rewrite this title Finovate Global Africa: Investments, Acquisitions, and Partnerships – Finovate

This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from Nigeria and South Africa.

BAS Group acquired a majority stake in Nigeria’s Zuvy

Nigeria-based diversified financial services group BAS Group announced this week that it has acquired a minority stake in Zuvy, a local fintech that specializes in invoice financing. The move gives BAS Group more than 50% of the company, a stake that analysts estimate could be valued between $1.5 million and $3 million. The transaction will also place BAS Group Chief Operating Officer, Adnan Kayode, at the helm of Zuvy—although the firm will continue to operate independently.

“This acquisition of Zuvy goes beyond simply expanding our investment portfolio—it represents a strategic alignment with our core mission of developing a comprehensive, technology-enabled financial ecosystem for Africa,” BAS Group Founder and CEO Abdulateef Hussein said.

Co-founded in 2023 by Angel Onuoha and Ahmed Shehu, Zuvy provides invoice financing to businesses in the FMCG (“fast-moving consumer goods”) and healthcare sectors, as well as to companies in supply chain industries. Zuvy reports financing invoices worth more than ₦1 billion ($650,000) for 1,500 small businesses over the past two years. As part of the deal, Onuoha and Shehu will retain minority stakes in the company, but will no longer have operational roles. The two founders have moved on to focus on their new healthcare venture, Avelis Health.

“We take great pride in Zuvy’s accomplishments and the positive impact we’ve created for thousands of Nigerian enterprises,” Onuoha said. “BAS Group represents the perfect partner to advance Zuvy’s growth trajectory while we focus our efforts on addressing critical healthcare challenges in the American market.”

BAS Group’s deal for Zuvy comes after the firm launched a lending business that provides collateralized loans to small and medium-sized businesses. The majority stake in Zuvy will enable BAS Group to add uncollateralized lending to its offering.

South African fintech Lesaka acquired Bank Zero

Lesaka Technologies reported that its subsidiary, Lesaka Technologies Proprietary Ltd, has agreed to acquire Bank Zero Mutual Bank (Bank Zero). Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition will be settled via a combination of new share issuance and up to ZAR 91 million ($5.1 million) in cash. The total value of the transaction is estimated to be $61 million.

“The acquisition of Bank Zero is a transformative event in Lesaka’s journey, enabling us to better serve our consumers, merchants, and enterprise clients by embedding a trusted, well-engineered neobank capability into our fintech platform,” Lesaka Chairman Ali Mazanderani said. “I am delighted to welcome the Bank Zero team to Lesaka as partners.”

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, Bank Zero is a modern “app-only” bank for both individuals and businesses. As of April 2025, the institution had a deposit base of more than ZAR 400 million ($22.4 million), and more than 40,000 funded accounts across South Africa. Co-launched by Michael Jordaan (Chairman) and Yatin Narsai (CEO), Bank Zero boasts 45% black- and 20% female-ownership. Post-acquisition, Jordaan will join the Lesaka Board of Directors while Narsai continues to serve as CEO.

“Bank Zero was built from the ground up to deliver a secure, digital-first banking experience that puts control back in the hands of customers,” Narsai said. “Our focus has always been on using technology to remove friction, lower costs, and challenge legacy banking norms. Joining forces with Lesaka allows us to accelerate that mission at scale—reaching more customers, faster—while staying true to the principles that define who we are.”

TransUnion invests, partners with Omnisient

Speaking of minority investments, TransUnion announced that it has secured a minority investment in—and a strategic partnership with—South Africa-based fintech Omnisient. Omnisient offers a data collaboration and advanced analytics platform that enables companies to securely access high-value consumer data ecosystems and integrate alternative data sets to support smart decision-making.

The strategic partnership will enhance TransUnion’s ability to bring more of the estimated 500 million un- and underbanked Africans into the formal financial system. By leveraging alternative data at scale, TransUnion’s partnership with Omnisient will enable more new-to-credit and credit-underserved consumers to begin building a credit profile and start the journey toward greater, long-term financial empowerment and opportunity.

“Traditional data models often fail to reflect the lived realities of African consumers, leaving millions without access to credit and the opportunities it enables,” TransUnion Africa Regional President/CEO Lee Naik said. “Financial inclusion is central to unlocking economic growth across the continent. That’s why we’re committed to leading with bold, Africa-born solutions designed to see the unseen and serve the credit-invisible by integrating alternative datasets alongside traditional credit data in ways that reflect uniquely African contexts and realities.”

Along with the investment (amount undisclosed) and strategic partnership, a member of TransUnion will join Omnisient’s board of directors.

TransUnion’s investment and strategic partnership comes at a time when demand is rising worldwide for access to alternative data and solutions that leverage this data while ensuring privacy, enhancing trust, and creating value for financial institutions. Omnisient’s technology uses tokenized keys to represent personal information in the data set, avoiding the transfer of raw data and providing privacy throughout the entire process. The company’s many-to-many data connectivity between banks and other financial services providers and third-parties helps promote innovation in the field of data collaboration.

“Our privacy-preserving data collaboration platform brings financial services and consumer brands together, allowing them to discover, validate, and commercialize new alternative sources of consumer behavioral and transactional data without having to exchange sensitive personal information,” Omnisient Co-Founder and Group CEO Jon Jacobson said.

Founded in 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, Omnisient is currently headquartered in the UK. TransUnion most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2024, showing how its Enhanced BreachIQ solution provides modern, gamified consumer identity protection.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Indian paytech Pine Labs announced plans for an IPO and a goal of a $6 billion valuation.

UnaFinancial and JSCB Microcreditbank partnered to launch a digital credit service in Uzbekistan.

SEBI-registered Online Bond Platform Provider (OBPP) IndiaBonds.com raised $3.77 million in funding.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Open payments platform Belvo and digital bank Ualá teamed up to launch new digital credit-scoring model leveraging a large-scale integration of employment data.

Paytech EBANX forged a partnership with Mexican BNPL fintech APLAZO.

Revolut announced plans to acquire Argentina-based lender Banco Cetelem from BNP Paribas.

Asia-Pacific

South Korean banks formed a consortium to issue a Won-backed stablecoin.

New Zealand-based accounting platform Xero agreed to acquire SMB bill pay platform Melio.

Australian open banking platform provider Frollo introduced its Frollo for Brokers online portal for mortgage brokers.

Sub-Saharan Africa

TransUnion announced a minority investment in and strategic partner with South African fintech Omnisient.

Financial crime compliance company ThetaRay partnered with Africa-based financial services firm I&M Group.

Kenya-based PesaLink inked a Memorandun of Understanding with Fintech Alliance to advance inclusive payment solutions.

Central and Eastern Europe

Germany-based insurer Munich Re teamed up with Instnt to enhance its ID fraud loss insurance coverage.

NaroIQ, a German digital platform that helps firms launch and manage ETFs and mutual funds, raised $6.5 million in seed funding.

Deutsche Bank turned to Silverflow for the launch of its European cloud-native payments platform.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Israeli-based fintech Tipalti acquired AI-powered cash flow management specialist Statement.

Egyptian payments platform Octane secured $5.2 million in new funding.

Libya’s Central Bank launched the country’s first electronic payment forum in a bid to spur fintech modernization.

Photo by onaopemipo Rufus

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