For most of the last decade, a South African tech startup founder who wished to sell his business had to hope for interest from foreign buyers. However, the situation has changed: now the country's banks are acting as the buyers.
For most of the last decade, a South African tech startup founder who wished to sell his business had to hope for interest from foreign buyers. However, the situation has changed: now the country's banks are acting as the buyers.
A recently published study by SA SME Fund, Endeavor South Africa, and the industry organization Savca demonstrates that domestic mergers and acquisitions deals led by banks have become a significant exit route for venture technology companies, competing with international deals that previously dominated.
Examples of such deals include Nedbank's purchase of the payment fintech service iKhokha for 1.65 billion rand, Capitec's acquisition of WalletDoc, TymeBank's takeover of the SME lender Retail Capital, and the transfer of the payments group Adumo to Lesaka Technologies.
Alison Collier, Managing Director of Endeavor South Africa, noted that between 2015 and 2020, all exiting businesses were sold to international companies, with minimal activity from local corporations in mergers and acquisitions. However, since the early 2020s, there has been a sharp increase in the number of local corporations interested in acquisitions in both fintech and other sectors.
Carl Vestig, founder of Retail Capital, who sold the company to TymeBank in December 2022, believes this shift reflects deeper changes in the banking sector's approach to innovation. He emphasized that banks used to be too monolithic and sought to do everything themselves, sometimes acquiring small stakes merely to study models that were then implemented internally. Now, there is a rise in joint ventures and the number of acquisitions.
Vestig pointed to the partnership between Retail Capital and FNB—a bank that 'traditionally did not collaborate much'—as evidence of the changing momentum. He forecasts an acceleration of this trend due to artificial intelligence. In his view, traditional institutions face a growing threat because their developments can be easily replicated by AI-based startups that lack legacy systems. As a result, 'traditional players must either partner, participate, or buy.'
Collier added that fintech companies have reached a suitable size. She explained that a large organization cannot acquire a too small business for it to be significant, and acquisition is often a cheaper way to innovate than independent development, provided the buyer can handle the costs and complexity of integration.
The wave of domestic mergers and acquisitions is one conclusion drawn from two studies asserting that South African venture capital is beginning to provide what it has long lacked—exit opportunities. An analysis of 226 realized exits, presented by local fund managers for the period from 2009 to 2026, showed that the capital-weighted return ranged from 2.01 to 2.45 times the invested capital, which corresponds to mature venture markets, including the US, UK, and Europe.
Over the last decade, approximately 16 billion rand was invested in more than 1100 companies, with about 60% of exits being profitable. In a related study of 18 successful exits, the median gross internal rate of return was 54%, the median multiple was 3.5 times the capital, and the median exit valuation was around 1.6 billion rand, while the companies created over 4000 direct jobs. However, these figures relate to a selected sample of winners, not the entire asset class.
Exit paths are also diversifying beyond M&A: secondary deals worth between 2 and 4 billion rand are emerging, and Optasia's listing on the JSE for 23.5 billion rand last year demonstrated that public markets can provide large-scale exits for African fintech companies. The international route remains open, evidenced by the expected acquisition of BVNK by Mastercard at a valuation Collier called around 30 billion rand, as well as the purchase of RapidDeploy by Motorola Solutions.
The study has a clearly commercial objective: to persuade pension funds and other institutions to direct funds into this asset class. Regulation 28 allows pension funds to allocate up to 15% of their funds to private equity, and this limit is largely unused. SA SME Fund announced plans to attract a new fund of 2 billion rand next year.
The researchers acknowledged that the returns they presented were gross, and when asked about the net profit investors made after deducting management and carried interest fees, they stated they had not calculated this, although typically 80% of the profit after capital return goes to investors. Nevertheless, the CEO of SA SME Fund, Ketso Gordhan, noted that the database itself is important: 'These studies show that the exit market is no longer theoretical. It is starting to happen, and it is happening through various channels.'
Emirates Airlines announced on Tuesday that customers can make payments using cryptocurrencies on the airline's official website and mobile application. The Dubai-based airline has partnered with Crypto.com, a licensed cryptocurrency company, offering users the ability to book Emirates flights using digital crypto payments.
Buyers who have a Crypto.com account can select the Crypto.com Pay option when checking out on emirates.com and in the Emirates app. Transactions are processed securely and comply with UAE regulatory standards. This feature is available to eligible residents of the UAE when booking, with costs and calculations made in Emirati Dirhams.
When buyers reach the payment stage during booking, the Crypto.com Pay option is displayed as a payment method on emirates.com and in the Emirates app. In the mobile version, users booking through the Emirates app are redirected to the Crypto.com app to complete the payment from their wallet, after which they are returned to the Emirates app to receive booking confirmation and an e-ticket.
For desktop users making bookings on emirates.com, they must select Crypto.com Pay™ at the payment stage, then scan the QR code displayed on the booking page and approve the payment in their Crypto.com app. After approval, the booking and e-ticket are issued on the user's screen.
This move comes amid the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency payments in the UAE for various goods and services. The launch by Crypto.com supports the 'Dubai Cashless Payments' strategy under the D33 Economic Agenda, which aims to make 90 percent of all financial transactions in the public and private sectors digital by the end of 2026. This initiative continues Emirates' partnership with Dubai Finance, signed last year, aimed at promoting digital payments, and follows Crypto.com's collaboration with Dubai Finance on accepting digital payments for government services.
The United States of America and Japan called on India, within the World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Council, to ease agricultural export restrictions, increase trade predictability, and eliminate non-tariff barriers during the concluding round of India's trade policy review in Geneva.
The US stated that it continues to insist on the need to eliminate the high level of protection and unpredictable non-tariff barriers existing in the agricultural sector. They urged India to more strictly regulate its production and trade support policies, which distort the market affecting crops such as rice and wheat, while complying with commitments made under the Agreement on Agriculture.
Japan emphasized that its concerns regarding India's agricultural export restrictions are based on a desire to achieve greater transparency and predictability. Furthermore, the US welcomed India's efforts in areas such as improving patent administration, modernizing the regulatory framework, and conducting broader economic reforms.
The American side added that it encourages India to build upon the progress made by continuing to address issues related to technical barriers to trade, localization measures, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, as well as restrictions affecting foreign companies' participation in key service sectors.
Japan characterized India's choice in policy as critical for the future of the multilateral trading system. It was noted that the domestic policy decisions of India, a country of 1.4 billion people, will have a significant impact on the future of this system. The review also affirmed India's significance as a 'responsible player within the WTO.'
The US highly appreciated India's adoption of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and expressed readiness to work with New Delhi on implementing this pact. Japan, citing the remark by Trade Secretary Rajesh Agrawal that 'global rules cannot remain static,' noted broad agreement among WTO members on the necessity of evolving multilateral trade rules, even with differences in reform approaches.
Japan supported pluralistic initiatives such as the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) and the E-commerce Agreement (ECA), which India rejects, asserting that they 'serve the interests of developing countries as a whole, including India.' Both countries thanked the Indian delegation for its participation and acknowledged the contribution of Ashish Chandorkar, advisor to the Indian mission in Geneva, for his work during the WTO negotiations.
