MFS Africa, the largest pan-African digital payments hub, on Monday announced that it has completed its acquisition of Capricorn Digital Limited, known in the market as Baxi.
The transaction was first announced in November 2021 pending approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has now been granted.
Baxi is one of Nigeria’s largest independent Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) focused electronic payment networks, with over 90,000 agents. It provides a cash-in/cash-out offering as well as value-added services (account opening, money transfer, bill payment and more) to the last mile.
Read also: Interswitch launches innovative products to boost Nigeria’s payment system
As well as providing entry into the Nigerian market for MFS Africa, the acquisition also provides exciting synergies: Baxi simplifies and integrates online and offline payments for SMEs and merchants in Nigeria through its omni-channel distribution network, while MFS Africa simplifies cross-border payments and integrates payments via one hub.
Baxi’s growth has accelerated over the last 24 months achieving over US$1.6 billion of transactions in 2021. MFS Africa will build Baxi into a key node on its digital payment network, enabling customers to make regional and global payments to and from Nigeria.
Baxi’s distribution network represents a crucial interface for banks, fintechs and other financial services providers to reach Nigeria’s 100 million financially unserved or underserved individuals and small businesses.
