The takeover has been approved by Kenya‘s Capital Markets Authority (CMA). It authorizes Risevest to operate in Kenya, where the investment platform, domiciled in Nigeria and the USA, plans to retain the Hisa brand and operations. The fintech will continue to support Kenyans wishing to invest in US equities and ETFs.
Risevest, backed by Ventures Platform and Techstars, claims to have around 600,000 users on its platform.
We don’t intend to make many changes within Hisa, which resonates well with Kenyans. We prefer to understand the company, its culture, and the market we’re entering,
said Eke Urum, CEO of Risevest, quoted by techpoint africa. This acquisition is Risevest’s second in the space of a year. In September 2023, the investment platform acquired Chaka, a Nigerian fintech that enables investors to invest in assets and securities both inside and outside the country. For these two transactions, the amounts disbursed were not disclosed. Hisa was founded in 2020 to enable private individuals to Kenyans access different investment options such as US equities and ETFs.
In Nigeria, the fintech sector accounts for around a third of the African market for financial services companies, according to a World Bank note published in April 2024. Almost half of Nigerian adults are still unbanked, mainly due to the limitations of the traditional banking infrastructure, which does not reach rural and remote areas.
