LeapFrog and Tana Africa invest in Nigerian paytech Interswitch

LeapFrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital have made a strategic investment in African paytech Interswitch.

Interswitch receives strategic investment from Tana and LeapFrog

The undisclosed amount of funding will support Interswitch in its mission to digitise payments across the African continent.

A portion of the investment has been acquired from existing shareholders, with Ignite Holdco Limited, made up of Helios Investment Partners and TA Associates, remaining the largest shareholder in the business following the deal.

Interswitch founder and group CEO Mitchell Elegbe says: “The evolution of fintech in Nigeria and the broader sub-Saharan region has been driven by the need to solve challenges and barriers that exist within the traditional financial system.”

LeapFrog and Tana say they will work with Interswitch management as the company looks to increase its customer base, develop new products and services and enhance its financial inclusion strategy.

LeapFrog partner and head of financial services in Africa, Karima Ola, says the investment from LeapFrog underlines the “significant opportunity in Africa’s evolving digital payments landscape”.

Founded in 2002, Interswitch set out to modernise Nigeria’s traditional cash-reliant payments ecosystem through the introduction of electronic payments processing and switching services.

As of today, the paytech operates a debit card scheme and an omni-channel consumer and business payments platform.