Onome Amuge
Moniepoint, one of Africa’s leading business payments and digital banking platforms has secured a place on CNBC’s inaugural list of the UK’s top fintech companies, marking another milestone for the digital banking and payments provider as it extends its reach beyond Africa.
The recognition, under the PAYMENTS category, underscores how Africa-founded fintech groups are increasingly making their mark on the UK’s financial technology sector, drawn by the scale of its capital markets, regulatory frameworks and deep links with African diaspora communities.
Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, Moniepoint began by focusing on the fragmented and underserved payments infrastructure across Nigeria. Today, it supports more than 10 million customers, processes over one billion monthly transactions worth more than $22 billion, and offers a broad suite of products from credit and payments to business management and digital banking.
The company’s UK-facing strategy has begun to capture attention in recent times. Earlier this year, Moniepoint launched MonieWorld, its first platform outside Africa, offering remittance and digital financial services to Africans living abroad. The product reflects the group’s shift to engage directly with diaspora communities in London and other UK cities, where remittances form a lifeline for families and businesses back home.
The UK is one of the largest remittance corridors to sub-Saharan Africa, with billions of pounds flowing annually through both formal and informal channels. That flow is expected to rise as second-generation migrants seek cheaper, faster and more transparent ways to move money across borders. Industry analysts say this makes the UK a natural springboard for African fintechs looking to build global scale.
For Moniepoint, recognition from CNBC adds to a growing list of international plaudits. The company was earlier named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies list and has been ranked for three consecutive years by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing firms. CB Insights also included it in its Fintech 100 list of the world’s most promising private fintechs.
Eniolorunda, co-founder and group chief executive of Moniepoint, said the UK plays both a symbolic and practical role in the company’s next chapter.
“We are delighted to be honoured once again by CNBC, this time as one of the UK’s top fintech companies. We are Nigerian-founded and proud of our heritage, but we recognise the importance of the UK market as both a strategic bilateral trade partner and a vital remittance corridor for Africa.
“That’s why we launched MonieWorld earlier this year – to meet the fragmented, underserved needs of the UK’s African diaspora – and, emboldened by this recognition, we look forward to exploring new ways to expand our presence in the UK and other markets, all with a view to promoting financial happiness and inclusion for Africans everywhere,” he said.
The recognition also showcases how the fintech map is shifting. Once dominated by Silicon Valley start-ups and European neobanks, the sector has become more geographically diverse as companies from Africa, Asia and Latin America push into mature markets with differentiated offerings.
