January 2026 marks a historic turning point for the African fintech landscape. In a dual display of market maturity, Paystack has celebrated its 10th anniversary by restructuring into a diversified holding company, The Stack Group (TSG), while MyInvestar has reported a record-breaking ₦13.9 billion in transaction volume, signaling a new era for wealth-tech.
1. Paystack’s “Alphabet-ization”: Introducing The Stack Group (TSG)
A decade after its founding, Paystack has officially moved beyond being “just a payment gateway.” The new holding company, The Stack Group, now oversees four distinct subsidiaries, allowing the firm to scale and manage regulatory risks independently:
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Paystack (B2B): Continues to focus on its core merchant payments infrastructure.
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Zap (B2C): A consumer-facing payment app designed to compete in the retail space.
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Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB): Formed following the January 2026 acquisition of Ladder MFB. This unit allows TSG to internalize its own banking rails, offering credit and treasury services to over 300,000 merchants without relying on third-party commercial banks.
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TSG Labs: A venture studio and incubator tasked with building high-risk, high-reward products using Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies.
2. The Profitability Milestone
Perhaps the most significant news for the ecosystem is Paystack’s announcement of group-level profitability. Since its $200 million acquisition by Stripe in 2020, Paystack has grown its payment volume twelvefold. This financial health has allowed for a unique shareholder structure in TSG, where Stripe, founder Shola Akinlade, and Paystack employees all hold equity—a rare move for a subsidiary that suggests significant strategic autonomy.
3. MyInvestar: Defying the “Customer Churn” Trend
While Paystack builds the infrastructure, MyInvestar (the digital arm of First Ally Asset Management) is proving that wealth-tech is finally gaining mainstream traction in Nigeria.
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231% Growth: The platform’s 2025 transaction volume hit ₦13.9 billion, fueled by 3,782 new high-value users.
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The Retention Secret: MyInvestar reported a 49% improvement in active conversion and retention, successfully transitioning users from one-time “emergency savers” to long-term wealth builders.
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Institutional Trust: With a ₦5.6 billion payout figure and a Money Market Fund averaging a 20.01% yield, the platform is leveraging its decade-long regulatory pedigree to bridge the trust gap that often plagues pure-play tech startups.
4. Strategic Outlook for 2026
The convergence of these two reports highlights the “Second Decade” strategy for African fintech:
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Internalizing the Stack: Companies are no longer content with being “layers” on top of banks; they are becoming the banks (Paystack MFB).
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AI Integration: With TSG Labs, the industry is shifting from transaction processing to intelligent automation.
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Cross-Border Dominance: Paystack now operates in markets representing 46% of Africa’s GDP, with Egypt and Rwanda soon to follow.
The Bottom Line
The era of “growth at all costs” has ended. Paystack’s transition to a profitable, AI-ready holding company and MyInvestar’s institutionalized wealth management success prove that the next phase of African tech is about sustainability, trust, and multi-sector expansion.
