Marking a decade of transforming African commerce, Paystack today announced the formation of The Stack Group (TSG). This new parent holding company will unify a growing ecosystem of tech brands dedicated to solving Africa’s most complex infrastructure challenges.
Founded by Stripe, Shola Akinlade, and Paystack employees, TSG serves as a corporate umbrella for a family of specialized brands. While these entities will remain operationally independent, they are united by a shared mission to build technology that powers African ambition.
At launch, the TSG portfolio includes:
- Paystack: Focused on merchant payment innovation.
- Zap: A new venture dedicated to consumer payments.
- Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB): Providing core banking and credit infrastructure.
- TSG Labs: An R&D hub exploring emerging technologies both within and beyond fintech.
Since being acquired by Stripe in 2020, Paystack has seen its payment volume surge by 12x. The company also confirmed today that it has reached group-level profitability.
Currently, Paystack’s footprint covers approximately 46% of Africa’s GDP, with licenses and operations in:
- Active: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
- Pending/Approved: Egypt and Rwanda.
The transition follows the launch of Paystack MFB in Nigeria. By operating its own standalone bank, the group can internalize financial rails, providing seamless credit and money-movement solutions for over 300,000 Nigerian merchants.
“The launch of TSG signals a larger scope of ambition for us and sets the tone for the next decade,” says Shola Akinlade, CEO and Founder. “It is clear that there are significant opportunities to support businesses beyond payments. TSG enables us to address the broader challenges African companies face.”
The agreements to establish TSG were finalized in October 2025 and remain subject to standard regulatory approvals.