Paystack, the African payments company founded by Shola Akinlade, has celebrated its 10th anniversary with the launch of The Stack Group (TSG), a new parent holding company designed to consolidate its family of tech-focused brands.
Founding shareholders of TSG include Stripe, Shola Akinlade, and existing Paystack employees. The agreements to establish TSG were signed in October 2025 and are currently pending regulatory approvals.
Akinlade stated, “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.”
Structure and Focus:
TSG will serve as the corporate umbrella for:
- Paystack – the core payments platform
- Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB) – a standalone bank supporting over 300,000 merchants
- Zap – a technology and payments brand
- TSG Labs – a venture studio and incubator for products beyond fintech, including AI-led solutions
While each entity operates independently, they will share expertise and values to drive innovation across Africa-focused technology solutions.
Growth and Impact:
Since being acquired by Stripe in 2020, Paystack has grown its payment volume more than twelvefold, achieving group-level profitability. The company is licensed in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Côte d’Ivoire, with regulatory approvals for Egypt and Rwanda underway—covering roughly 46% of Africa’s GDP.
Paystack MFB enables the group to internalize core financial infrastructure and provide banking and credit solutions, supporting end-to-end money movement across the continent.
The creation of TSG reflects Paystack’s ambition to expand its technology solutions beyond fintech, helping African businesses innovate and scale across sectors, while marking a milestone 10 years of operations aimed at powering African ambition.
This strategic shift positions TSG as a multi-sector technology powerhouse capable of driving innovation for the next decade and beyond.
