Ripple has acquired an equity stake in African payments company Flutterwave, valuing the fintech at $3.2bn and deepening its push into stablecoin-powered payments across the continent.
Ripple Takes Stake in Flutterwave, Extending African Payments Push
16 June 2026 - 23:52 CEST
By Ana Pereira
Under the partnership, Ripple RLUSD stablecoin will be embedded into Flutterwave's payment rails and remittance corridors as a settlement asset. The companies also plan to connect Flutterwave's domestic payments network to Ripple Payments and use the XRP Ledger to support transaction clearing.
Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech that operates payments, remittances and merchant services across Africa, already offers access to dollar-backed stablecoins, including USDT and USD Coin (USDC). In 2025, the company selected Polygon as the default blockchain for its stablecoin payments network.
Ripple's investment forms part of Flutterwave's Series E funding round, though the companies did not disclose financial terms. The fintech has previously raised more than $500mn from investors including Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures, B Capital Group, Visa Ventures, Greycroft and Y Combinator.
A gateway to Africa
The investment extends Ripple's push into Africa's payments market. In 2025, the company partnered with South Africa's Absa Bank to provide digital asset custody services for institutional clients, expanding its presence in one of the continent's largest financial markets. Last year, Ripple also teamed up with Chipper Cash, a payments platform operating across Africa, to support cross-border transfers using its payments rails.
Stablecoin battleground
Stablecoins have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the digital asset industry, with more than $315bn in circulation globally. While Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC continue to dominate the market, issuers are increasingly competing for adoption in payments and remittances rather than solely on crypto exchanges.
Africa has emerged as a key battleground in that effort. Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205bn in onchain value between July 2024 and June 2025, a 52% increase from the previous year, making it the world's third-fastest-growing crypto region, according to Chainalysis.
Flutterwave operates in 35 African countries, according to Bloomberg. The fintech says it has processed more than one billion transactions worth over $50bn.
