TerraPay, a UK-based digital payments provider focusing on remittance transfers in Africa, has successfully raised $95 million in debt financing. This injection of funds aims to improve the efficiency and affordability of remittance transactions across Africa, as well as to bolster business operations and enhance transaction speed and reliability.
The financing came in two parts: $75 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a $20 million senior secured loan from British International Investment (BII) through Lendable’s existing senior secured facility.
Within the IFC’s contribution, a $30 million loan from the IFC’s account was included, along with a B Loan of $15 million from ILX under the IFC’s B Loan Program, and a combined parallel loan totaling $30 million from development finance institutions OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I and BIO.
TerraPay prides itself on its integration with major markets and money transfer operators like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Ria.
With this significant funding, TerraPay aims to expand its reach by forming strategic partnerships with more global money transfer operators, while also increasing the volume of transfers processed across Africa. The company’s objectives include reducing costs, improving speed, and simplifying the process of international remittance.
Furthermore, TerraPay has collaborated with enza, a payments technology company focusing on African banks, to enhance payment acceptance and streamline cross-border payments.
In a previous venture back in July 2023, Safaricom teamed up with TerraPay to enable over 32 million M-PESA customers to send and receive money to more than 200 million people in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
This is not the first time IFC has invested in TerraPay, as in 2019, the corporation injected $8 million into Fintech’s Series A funding round. Ambar Sur, the Founder and CEO of TerraPay, expressed gratitude for the longstanding support, emphasizing how it has propelled the company’s mission to strengthen infrastructure, expand its network, and devise innovative solutions.
Aliou Maiga, IFC’s Regional Industry Director for the Financial Institutions Group for Africa, highlighted how the partnership with TerraPay will bolster digital payment infrastructure, empowering individuals and small businesses.
Specifically, BII mentioned that their funding in TerraPay will be utilized as part of the company’s working capital to pre-fund the growing remittance volumes to Africa, prioritizing key corridors such as Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroon, Mali, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Mozambique.
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