Nigerian financial technology company, Paystack, has unveiled The Stack Group (TSG) as parent company after obtaining a microfinance bank licence. Paystack said TSG would bring together its growing portfolio of technology-focused businesses across Africa, as it moves into financial services with the acquisition Ladder Microfinance Bank.
The company in a statement released last week said the TSG would also aggregate the family of brands connected with Paystack, with founding shareholders including Stripe, Paystack founder and CEO, Shola Akinlade, and existing Paystack employees. Agreements which established TSG as the parent holding company, were signed in October 2025, but are still subject to regulatory approvals. Paystack said the creation of TSG builds on the recent launch of Paystack Microfinance Bank in Nigeria.
Operating as a standalone bank, the microfinance unit allows the group to internalise key financial infrastructure and provide banking and credit services to its merchant base. Under the new structure, The Stack Group will provide a corporate umbrella for several complementary businesses that operate in different areas of financial and technology services, while remaining operationally independent.
At launch, the group will include Paystack, which focuses on merchant payments; Zap, which operates in consumer payments; Paystack Microfinance Bank, which provides banking services; and TSG Labs, which works on emerging technologies and new product development within and beyond financial technology. The company said the businesses will be united by shared values and “deep knowledge of building technology products to solve Africa specific challenges.”
Commenting on the launch, Akinlade described the move as a strategic shift in the company’s long term ambition. “The launch of TSG signals a larger scope of ambition for us and sets the tone for the next decade of our company. “Having worked with thousands of companies across the continent since 2016, it is clear that there are significant opportunities to support businesses beyond payments, and TSG enables us to address the challenges African companies face,” Akinlade said.
He also acknowledged Stripe’s continued involvement, thanking the company “for their continued belief in Africa’s potential, and our ability to create transformative technology companies for the continent, and beyond.” The announcement comes five years after Paystack was acquired by Stripe in 2020 in a $200 million deal. Since then, the company said its payment volume has grown twelvefold, alongside an expansion into multiple African markets.
Paystack is currently licenced and operational in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, with regulatory approvals secured for Egypt and Rwanda. According to the company, these markets together represent about 46 percent of Africa’s GDP.
