More Nigerian fintech firms are driving expansion beyond domestic borders into East Africa, drawn by the region’s strong venture capital activity and its innovation-friendly regulatory space.

Moniepoint is the latest Nigerian fintech firm to enter East Africa. It joins Flutterwave, Paystack, and Chipper Cash, which have succeeded in the home of Africa’s most successful fintech firm, M-Pesa.

It comes as the region attracts significant venture capital investment, while Nigeria, once Africa’s fintech frontrunner, experiences a slowdown.

“Nigerian fintechs see East Africa as the logical next step for expansion,” said Martin Macharia, a tech and fintech analyst based in Nairobi.

“The mobile money ecosystem here is mature, with high adoption rates and established consumer trust. Rather than building from scratch, they’re integrating into a system primed for scale.”

Kenya alone secured $638 million in VC funding in 2024, accounting for 88% of East Africa’s total inflows, as investors increasingly back fintech firms in Nairobi, Kigali, and Kampala.

Tellingly, as of October last year, Egypt and Kenya had soaked up over half of Africa’s venture capital funding, as the continent faced a sharp annual drop in investment inflows.

Now, Lagos-based Moniepoint is the latest to enter the East African market, joining peers Flutterwave, Paystack, and Chipper Cash in a broader expansion strategy to reshape Africa’s fintech ecosystem.

Last year, Nigerian fintech Rise acquired Kenya’s Hisa to enter the East African market. The acquisition provides investors with access to global and local assets like stocks and bonds. It leverages Kenya’s robust digital payment infrastructure and expanding retail investment sector to fuel Rise’s growth.

As competition intensifies in Nigeria’s fintech sector, financial services firms are looking beyond their home market to tap into new opportunities across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania.

In 2018, Flutterwave became one of the early entrants eastward when it launched its payments solution, Barter, in Kenya and later, in 2020, in Rwanda.

However, in Kenya, the West African fintech giant faced legal challenges after authorities accused it of abetting money laundering in 2020 and froze its accounts.

But High Court Judge Nixon Sifuna gave it respite, throwing out the case and criticising Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) for initiating the suit without completing investigations, deeming the action “inappropriate, negligent, reckless, and absurd.”

Meanwhile, Paystack has expanded its presence in East Africa since acquiring a Payment Service Provider license from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), enabling it to launch regional operations formally.

In October 2020, the Nigerian fintech was acquired by Stripe and has steadily integrated into East Africa’s financial ecosystem, working with local payment processors and businesses to facilitate digital transactions. 

Chipper Cash, founded in San Francisco by a Ghanaian and Ugandan duo, has also bolstered its regional presence. It focuses on cross-border payments and remittances.

Nigeria became its operational birthplace, serving as the launchpad for its rapid growth across Africa. The company now operates in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania, leveraging mobile money integrations to facilitate seamless transactions.

In March, it partnered with Ripple to enhance its payment infrastructure, using blockchain technology to enable faster and more cost-effective remittances across Africa.

East Africa’s appeal lies in its well-established mobile money infrastructure, led by Kenya’s M-Pesa, widely regarded as Africa’s most successful fintech platform. Mobile transactions dominate the financial landscape, creating an environment where digital payment providers can scale quickly.

Nigerian fintechs’ aggressive push into East Africa comes as cross-border trade and remittance flows within Africa expand under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), fuelling demand for efficient payment solutions.

Those launching eastwards are positioning themselves as complementary players, offering services beyond traditional mobile wallets, including digital lending, payment processing, and SME financing.

According to Macharia, regulatory conditions have also contributed to attracting Nigerian fintech to East Africa. Countries like Kenya and Rwanda have introduced policies encouraging digital financial services, making establishing operations easier for foreign fintech firms.

In contrast, Nigeria’s regulatory environment has posed challenges, with shifting policies and restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions, unlike in East Africa, which enjoys a lax legal regime.

Investment trends support the expansion, with venture capital funding into East African fintech surging as international investors increasingly back startups in Nairobi and Kigali.

The influx of financing creates a natural bridge for Nigerian firms seeking cross-border partnerships. Paystack’s recent collaborations with Kenyan payment processors point to an evolving landscape in which Nigerian fintechs integrate into established networks rather than building entirely new systems.

But competition remains a challenge. With well-rooted mobile money providers dominating the market, Nigerian fintechs entering East Africa must differentiate their offerings. Some firms focus on business solutions, targeting merchants and small businesses rather than individual consumers. Others, like Moniepoint, leverage banking infrastructure to support enterprise payments, aiming to carve a niche in digital financial services beyond mobile money.

Despite the momentum, risks remain. Compliance hurdles, local competition, and consumer adoption rates will influence how successfully Nigerian fintechs navigate East Africa’s fintech landscape.

While mobile money is dominant, alternative digital payment systems still require strong customer trust and usability. Cybersecurity and fraud prevention efforts are also top priorities as fintech operations scale.

As new partnerships emerge and competition intensifies, companies must tailor their models to local market needs while leveraging the region’s fintech-friendly policies.