Top 10 African Fintechs by Valuation in 2026

Published: November 12, 2026

Key Facts

• Flutterwave ranks first at $3.25 billion, after a Series E round in June 2026 that included an investment from Ripple. The ten companies are worth $18.05 billion combined, and every one of them is a unicorn, worth at least $1 billion.
• OPay ranks second at $3.10 billion, implied by a filing from its shareholder Opera. OPay priced shares for a New York listing at about $4 billion on October 30, 2026, then pulled the listing the next day after an inquiry from a Chinese regulator. Had the listing closed, OPay would rank first.
• Nigeria dominates the list. Its four companies, Flutterwave, OPay, Moove and Moniepoint, are worth $9.45 billion combined, more than the other six companies combined at $8.60 billion. Egypt is second with three companies worth $4.15 billion.
• Two companies are listed on the Egyptian Exchange and are valued on their market capitalisation: e-finance at $1.60 billion and Fawry at $1.15 billion, both as of November 11, 2026. The other eight are private and are valued on their last priced funding round.
• The figures carry different vintages, from September 2021 for Wave to August 2026 for Moove, and the table states each one. Chipper Cash shows why vintage matters: it was worth $2.0 billion in November 2021 and was marked down to $1.25 billion in 2022, a cut of 37.5%.

Valuations as of November 12, 2026. Private companies are valued on their last priced funding round. The two listed companies, e-finance and Fawry, are valued on market capitalisation. The top 10 are worth $18.05 billion combined, an average of $1.81 billion each. The top three hold $8.45 billion, or 46.8% of the total. Nigeria's four companies are worth 2.28 times Egypt's three. Flutterwave alone, at $3.25 billion, is worth 95.6% of the bottom three companies combined.

1. Flutterwave

$3.25 billion (Series E, June 2026). Flutterwave is the payments company that other African fintechs are measured against. It was founded in Lagos in 2016 by Olugbenga Agboola and now operates in 34 African countries. It has processed more than $40 billion in payments over its lifetime. Its last two priced rounds tell a story of slow growth, not a boom: $3.0 billion in February 2022, then $3.25 billion in June 2026, a rise of only 8.3% in more than four years. The June round included a strategic investment from Ripple, the United States blockchain payments company. In April 2026 Flutterwave bought Mono, an open banking startup, and gained a national microfinance banking licence in Nigeria. In October 2026 it let employees borrow against their vested shares, a rare move for a private African company. Reports of the June round ranged from $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion, and this ranking uses $3.25 billion, the most precise figure reported at the time. One aggregator list put Flutterwave at $5.2 billion in June 2026, but no priced round supports that figure, so it is not used here.

2. OPay

$3.10 billion (implied by Opera filing, end-2025). OPay is the closest challenger to Flutterwave, and it nearly took the top spot. The company began in 2018 as an offshoot of Opera, the Norwegian browser group. It raised $400 million in August 2021 at a $2.0 billion valuation, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Opera's securities filings then implied about $2.7 billion in early 2024 and $3.1 billion by the end of 2025, when Opera valued its 9.5% stake at $294.6 million. OPay filed to list on the New York Stock Exchange on October 9, 2026. It priced 16 million shares at $19 each on October 30, which would have valued it at about $4 billion. The listing never happened. An inquiry from a Chinese regulator halted trading the next day, and OPay and its underwriters ended the deal. The shares never traded. This ranking uses the $3.1 billion filing figure, not the $4 billion, because a pulled listing is not a valuation. In the first half of 2026 OPay reported revenue of $467.1 million and net income of $90.9 million. It has more than 50 million monthly active users, and Nigeria brings in about 90% of its revenue.

3. Moove

$2.10 billion (Series C, August 2026). Moove finances cars for ride hailing drivers, who repay from their daily earnings. It was founded in Lagos in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi. Uber led a $100 million Series B in March 2024 that valued it at $750 million. In August 2026 it raised $250 million in a Series C led by Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi investment company, at a $2.1 billion valuation. That is 2.8 times the 2024 figure, the sharpest rise in this top 10. Moove now runs about 42,000 vehicles in 29 cities across 13 countries and reports about $420 million in annual recurring revenue. It also operates Waymo self driving vehicles in Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas. Then came the twist: on October 8, 2026, weeks after becoming a unicorn, Moove said it would end its operations in Nigeria, the country where it started. Eligible drivers will receive full ownership of their vehicles.

4. Wave

$1.70 billion (Series A, September 2021). Wave is the only company in the top four that is not Nigerian, and it proved that Francophone Africa could produce a unicorn. It was founded by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk, who had built the Sendwave remittance app. In September 2021 Wave raised $200 million in a Series A at a $1.7 billion valuation, the largest Series A ever raised by an African startup at the time. Sequoia Heritage, Founders Fund, Stripe and Ribbit Capital led the round. Wave charges a flat 1% fee on transfers, which forced the telecom led mobile money operators in Senegal to cut their prices. By July 2026 it served more than 25 million monthly active users in 11 African countries. It raised $137 million in debt in June 2025, but that round did not reprice its equity, so the 2021 figure still stands. That is the oldest valuation in this top 10, and it is stated as such.

5. e-finance

$1.60 billion (market capitalisation, November 11, 2026). e-finance is the state owned company that runs Egypt's government payment rails. It is listed on the Egyptian Exchange, so the market values it every trading day. Its market capitalisation was EGP 85.49 billion at the close on November 11, 2026, or about $1.6 billion. Its shares have gained about 59.5% over the past 52 weeks. e-finance is not a startup, and it does not raise venture rounds. It is in this ranking because it is an African fintech by market value, and the ranking counts listed fintechs on their market capitalisation. It is the largest listed fintech in Egypt. The same market basis applies to Fawry at number 9, and the basis is flagged in the table for both.

6. Tyme Group

$1.50 billion (Series D, December 2024). Tyme Group runs TymeBank in South Africa and GoTyme in the Philippines. In December 2024 it closed a $250 million Series D led by Nubank, the Brazilian digital bank, which invested $150 million for a 10% stake. That priced the group at $1.5 billion and made it a unicorn. TymeBank launched in February 2019 and recorded its first profitable month in December 2023, less than five years after launch. It had 10.7 million customers at the end of 2024 and more than 15 million across South Africa and the Philippines. The bank plans to rebrand as GoTyme in the first half of 2026 and to list on the New York and Johannesburg exchanges in 2028. A GoTyme executive said on November 3, 2026 that the business could target a $15 billion valuation at listing. That is an ambition, not a valuation, and it is not used in this ranking.

7. MNT-Halan

$1.40 billion (equity round, June 2026). MNT-Halan is Egypt's first fintech unicorn, and it lends to people that banks ignore. It was founded in Cairo in 2018 by Mounir Nakhla. In February 2023 it raised $400 million at a $1 billion valuation, with Chimera Investments of Abu Dhabi taking a 20% stake for $200 million. In June 2026 a new equity round led by Al Ahly Capital, the investment arm of the National Bank of Egypt, lifted the valuation to about $1.4 billion, a rise of 40%. It was the first time a commercial bank had taken a direct equity stake in the company. MNT-Halan serves more than 8 million customers across Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. On September 8, 2026 it filed to list on the Egyptian Exchange, targeting a valuation of $0.9 billion to $1.0 billion for its domestic operations. That is a narrower scope than the $1.4 billion group valuation used here, and the difference is stated so the two figures are not confused.

8. Chipper Cash

$1.25 billion (2022 markdown; peak $2.0 billion, November 2021). Chipper Cash is the cautionary tale in this ranking. It was founded in 2018 by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled to offer free peer to peer transfers across Africa. In November 2021 it raised a $150 million Series C extension led by FTX at a valuation of more than $2 billion, becoming one of Africa's five unicorns at the time. Documents later showed that FTX had put a further $35 million into the company through a SAFE, an agreement for future equity, at a $1.25 billion valuation. That cut the value by 37.5%. FTX collapsed in November 2022, and Chipper Cash cut staff in several rounds while it refocused on its core African payments business. By late 2025 it reported more than 7 million customers across nine African countries, and it said it had stopped burning cash in the final quarter of 2025. Nigeria and Uganda are its leading revenue markets. This ranking uses the $1.25 billion markdown, not the $2.0 billion peak, because the markdown is the latest priced event.

9. Fawry

$1.15 billion (market capitalisation, November 11, 2026). Fawry is Egypt's oldest fintech success story. It was founded in Cairo in 2008 by Ashraf Sabry and listed on the Egyptian Exchange in 2019. Its market capitalisation was EGP 61.28 billion at the close on November 11, 2026, or about $1.15 billion. It is Egypt's second largest listed fintech by market capitalisation, after e-finance. Fawry's operating revenue reached EGP 8.65 billion, about $166.7 million, in 2025, and its net profit grew 77% that year. It has 55.4 million monthly users and processes about 6 million transactions a day. Unlike the private unicorns above it, Fawry is profitable, listed and valued by the market every day, which makes its $1.15 billion the most testable figure in this ranking.

10. Moniepoint

$1.00 billion or more (Series C extension, October 2025). Moniepoint is the profitable unicorn that barely makes this list, and it is here on the freshest $1 billion figure in Africa. It was founded in Lagos in 2015 as TeamApt by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, both former Interswitch engineers. In October 2024 it raised $110 million in a Series C led by Development Partners International at a $1 billion valuation. In October 2025 it raised a further $90 million, taking the Series C to $200 million, and the company said its valuation sat comfortably above $1 billion. Moniepoint now processes more than 800 million transactions a month worth over $17 billion, or more than $250 billion a year. It serves more than 10 million customers. In April 2026 it bought Orda, a Nigerian restaurant management platform. The table shows $1.00 billion with a plus sign because the exact figure above $1 billion was not disclosed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which African fintech is the most valuable in 2026?

Flutterwave, at $3.25 billion. The Nigerian payments company raised a Series E round in June 2026 at that valuation, with an investment from Ripple. OPay is second at $3.10 billion, only $150 million behind.

Why is OPay not first if it priced a $4 billion IPO?

Because the listing never closed. OPay priced 16 million shares at $19 each on October 30, 2026, which would have valued it at about $4 billion. An inquiry from a Chinese regulator halted trading the next day, and OPay and its underwriters ended the deal. The shares never traded. This ranking uses completed valuations only, so OPay is ranked on the $3.1 billion implied by its shareholder Opera's filings at the end of 2025. Had the listing closed, OPay would rank first.

Why are two listed companies in this ranking?

Because the ranking covers African fintechs by value, not only private startups. e-finance and Fawry trade on the Egyptian Exchange, so their market capitalisations are their valuations, $1.60 billion and $1.15 billion as of November 11, 2026. Both rows are flagged as market capitalisation in the table. e-finance is state owned and runs Egypt's government payment rails, which is stated in its section.

Why is Interswitch not in the top 10?

Interswitch is worth $1 billion, the same as Moniepoint, but its figure dates to November 2019, when Visa bought a 20% stake for $200 million. Moniepoint's $1 billion dates to October 2025, so Moniepoint takes tenth place on the recency tie break. PalmPay just misses too, at about $0.85 billion in January 2026, although Bloomberg reported in August 2026 that a $200 million round in discussion could value it above $1 billion. That round has not closed, so it is not used.

Why do some valuations date back to 2021?

Private companies are only valued when they raise money, and African venture funding fell sharply after 2022. Wave's $1.7 billion dates to September 2021 because it has not raised priced equity since then. The table states the vintage of every figure, and the Methodology explains how stale figures were handled. Where a newer event exists, such as Chipper Cash's 2022 markdown or OPay's pulled IPO, it is disclosed and it governs the ranking.

Data Sources

• CapFinch, "Largest African Startups 2026: Unicorns and Valuations", 21 October 2026: capfinch.com
• TechCabal, "Flutterwave CEO on why African fintechs are trying to become banks", 28 October 2026: techcabal.com
• TechCabal, "Flutterwave offers employees share-backed loans in rare move", 22 October 2026: techcabal.com
• Africa Markets, "Flutterwave takes Circle Ventures investment after $3.2B Series E", 18 September 2026: africamarkets.com
• WeeTracker, "OPay's Road To USD 4 B US Listing Marks Fintech's Rapid Rise In Nigeria", 1 May 2026: weetracker.com
• Billionaires.Africa, "Billionaire Yahui Zhou's OPay IPO halted by China regulator", 5 November 2026: billionaires.africa
• Dealroom, "OPay pulls $4B New York IPO at the last minute after China inquiry", 5 November 2026: dealroom.co
• Nairametrics, "How Moove raised over $710 million before exiting Nigeria", 9 October 2026: nairametrics.com
• MEED, "Mubadala backs Moove in $250m funding round", 6 August 2026: guest.meed.com
• CapFinch, Moove company profile: capfinch.com
• TechCrunch, "Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and others invest $200M in African fintech Wave at $1.7B valuation", 6 September 2021: techcrunch.com
• FinTech Futures, "African fintech Wave hits unicorn status with $200m Series A round", 12 September 2021: fintechfutures.com
• TechCabal, "Wave raises $137 million in debt to expand mobile money services across Africa", 30 June 2025: techcabal.com
• StockAnalysis, e-finance market capitalisation, 11 November 2026: stockanalysis.com
• Multiples.vc, eFinance valuation multiples, 12 November 2026: multiples.vc
• African Rainbow Capital, "Tyme Group Pte announces US$250m Series D capital raise, Nubank partnership", 17 December 2024: sharenet.co.za
• TymeBank Limited, Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2025: gotyme.co.za
• TechOrjin, "Egyptian Fintech MNT-Halan Hits $1.4 Billion Valuation After New Funding", 11 June 2026: techorijin.com
• AU-Startups, "MNT-Halan Files for Cairo Stock Exchange Listing, Targets $1 Billion Valuation": au-startups.com
• TechCabal, "Africa's newest unicorn: MNT-Halan", 2 February 2023: techcabal.com
• CapFinch, Chipper Cash company profile: capfinch.com
• The Condia, "Chipper Cash's valuation dropped by 37.5%, from $2B to $1.25B": thecondia.com
• PitchBook, Fawry company profile, 11 November 2026: pitchbook.com
• Multiples.vc, Fawry valuation multiples, 12 November 2026: multiples.vc
• TechCabal, "The money engines that built Fawry's $1 billion business", 20 April 2026: techcabal.com
• TechCabal, "Moniepoint gets $1 billion valuation in new funding round led by DPI", 29 October 2024: techcabal.com
• Serrari Group, "Moniepoint Secures Additional $90 Million in Series C Extension", October 2025: serrarigroup.com
• TechCrunch, "Nigeria's Interswitch confirms $1B valuation after Visa investment", 12 November 2019: techcrunch.com
• TechCabal, "PalmPay eyes Hong Kong", 5 August 2026: techcabal.com
• Nigeria Communications Week, "Nigeria's 9 Top FinTech Firms Valued at $10.6Bn in January 2026", 26 January 2026: nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng

Methodology

This ranking uses one uniform definition for every row: the value of the company in United States dollars as of November 12, 2026. For the eight private companies, that value is the post money valuation of the last priced funding round, meaning the price investors paid for shares in a completed round. For the two listed companies, e-finance and Fawry, it is the market capitalisation on the Egyptian Exchange at the close on November 11, 2026, as reported by PitchBook and Multiples.vc. The underlying market capitalisations were EGP 85.49 billion for e-finance and EGP 61.28 billion for Fawry. The two bases are flagged in the table, and no other mixing of definitions occurs.

Private company valuations carry the vintage of their last priced round, and that vintage is stated in the table for every row. The vintages run from September 2021 for Wave to August 2026 for Moove. A valuation does not update until a company raises priced equity, lists, or is marked down in a priced event, so older figures are the latest available figures, not a choice of convenience. Where a newer event supersedes a priced round, the newer event governs: Chipper Cash is ranked on its 2022 markdown to $1.25 billion, not its November 2021 peak of $2.0 billion. OPay is ranked on the $3.1 billion implied by Opera's end-2025 filing, not on the $4 billion at which it priced a New York listing on October 30, 2026, because that listing was halted the next day and the shares never traded.

Three further conflicts were resolved before publication. Flutterwave's June 2026 Series E was reported at $3.2 billion, $3.25 billion and $3.3 billion by different outlets; this ranking uses $3.25 billion, the most precise figure reported at the time, and states the range. One June 2026 aggregator list put Flutterwave at $5.2 billion with no priced round behind it; that figure was rejected. MNT-Halan's June 2026 group valuation of $1.4 billion and its September 2026 listing target of $0.9 billion to $1.0 billion cover different scopes, group versus domestic operations only, so the group figure is used and the difference is stated. Moniepoint and Interswitch both sit at $1 billion, so the tenth place goes to Moniepoint on the recency tie break: October 2025 against November 2019.

Companies were excluded, not ranked last, when no defensible figure exists. M-KOPA, LemFi, JUMO, Yoco, TerraPay, Onafriq, Cellulant and Stitch have raised money but have never disclosed a valuation, so they cannot be placed. Network International, dLocal and Thunes are not African founded or headquartered. Lesaka Technologies of South Africa is listed on NASDAQ with a market capitalisation of about $0.29 billion, below the cut. PalmPay at about $0.85 billion and Kuda, Paystack and Paga below it also fall short, as does U Consumer Finance of Egypt at about $0.39 billion. Andela, which appears in some African unicorn lists, is a talent platform, not a fintech, and Naspers is a listed conglomerate, not a fintech. Every derived claim in this article, including the $18.05 billion total, the $1.81 billion average, the 46.8% top three share, the 2.28 times Nigeria to Egypt multiple and the 95.6% Flutterwave to bottom three comparison, was recomputed from the final table values before publication.

This ranking is distinct from the site's Top 10 African Startups by Valuation in 2026, which ranks companies across all sectors, and from Top 10 Most Funded African Startups in 2026, which ranks by money raised rather than value. Readers who want the wider startup picture should read those alongside this fintech ranking. The site's June 2026 report on Flutterwave's round is here: Flutterwave Hits $3.2 Billion Valuation After Ripple Investment.

Image: an M-PESA payment till at a restaurant in Kenya. Photo: Raidarmax / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). The photo is illustrative.