Ripple Buys Stake in Africa’s Flutterwave at $3.3B Valuation

Ripple has acquired an equity stake in Flutterwave, one of Africa’s most valuable fintech startups, in a deal that values the company at $3.3 billion.

Ripple Deal Brings Capital and a Strategic Partner

In an interview with Bloomberg, Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola said the deal brings Flutterwave both fresh capital and a strategic partner as it pushes to expand its payments business across the continent. However, he declined to disclose how much Ripple invested or the size of its resulting shareholding.

Agboola also claimed that Ripple is buying equity rather than entering into a commercial agreement. “They’re participating at the equity level, which means obviously they get to participate on the upside,” he told Bloomberg.

The investment lands as demand grows for quicker, lower-cost cross-border payments in Africa, a market both firms are racing to serve. Ripple, which provides crypto-based payment solutions to businesses in more than 90 countries, has been steadily building its African footprint through partnerships with South Africa’s Absa Bank and payments provider Chipper Cash.

Flutterwave, which operates in 35 African countries, has been moving deeper into digital assets in parallel. Last year it rolled out stablecoin-based payment services that let businesses and consumers transact and hold dollar-pegged tokens, part of a broader bet on blockchain rails for the region.

The deal gives Ripple access to one of Africa’s largest fintech networks, while handing Flutterwave additional infrastructure and expertise to grow both its traditional and blockchain-based payment offerings.

Ripple Opens New Middle East, Africa Headquarters

As reported, Ripple has expanded its Middle East and Africa footprint with a new regional headquarters at the Dubai International Financial Centre, despite rising geopolitical tensions. The larger office gives the company room to double its headcount and builds on its presence in Dubai, where Ripple set up its first offices in 2020 to capitalize on growing demand for regulated blockchain-based payments and custody.

The UAE expansion came amid growing regulatory progress in the country. The Dubai Financial Services Authority licensed Ripple to offer regulated international payments in the DIFC and more recently approved its RLUSD stablecoin for use by regulated entities in the hub. RLUSD has since reached new milestones, including a listing on OKX.