.
Image: RON
Lesaka Technologies, Inc. is quietly emerging as one of Southern Africa’s most formidable fintech innovators, and early signals suggest that this buying spree could reshape the region’s payments and banking landscape.
Digital & eCommerce analyst Elishua Ngoma, writing from her vantage point at Standard Bank Group, recently called Lesaka a “major company to watch.”
Her assessment isn’t hyperbole.
Over the past 18 months, Lesaka has closed a series of high-impact acquisitions that strengthen its core business and expand into adjacent sectors:
Adumo - A payments processor company (Bought in October 2024)
Lesaka acquired Cape Town–based Adumo RF for R1.67 billion, paid in a mix of cash and Lesaka shares. Adumo operates in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Kenya, serving roughly 23,000 merchants. Its offerings include card acquiring, integrated payments, reconciliation services, and SaaS / POS solutions, capabilities that now plug directly into Lesaka’s merchant business. With the acquisition, Lesaka projects that its ecosystem will handle over R270 billion in annual transaction throughput.
Recharger - A prepaid metering company (Bought in March 2025)
In a R507 million deal, Lesaka bought Recharger, a leading pre-paid electricity submetering business with more than 460,000 registered meters, according to Business Day. The deal was structured as cash plus shares: R332 m in cash and R175 m in Lesaka shares. Lesaka also extended a R43 million loan to Recharger at closing, enabling the company to settle existing debt. Strategically, Lesaka sees this as its entry into the private utilities sector, bolstering its enterprise division and giving it a strong foothold in alternative payments.
One of Lesaka’s most consequential deals to date is its acquisition of Bank Zero, a digital-only bank:
Lesaka agreed to acquire 100% of Bank Zero in a transaction valued at up to R 1.09 billion.
The deal will be paid via a combination of newly issued Lesaka shares (giving Bank Zero shareholders roughly 12% of Lesaka’s fully diluted share base) and up to R 91 million in cash. Subject to regulatory approvals, including from the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority, the Competition Commission, and Exchange Control, Lesaka expects to close the deal by the end of its fiscal year 2026.
The company noted that leadership continuity is a key part of the deal and, therefore, Michael Jordaan (Bank Zero's chair) will join Lesaka’s board. Yatin Narsai will remain the CEO of Bank Zero.
It should be noted that Bank Zero boasts a modern, app-based zero-fee banking model. As of April 2025, it had over 40,000 funded accounts and more than R400 million in deposits.
Ngoma’s commentary highlights how Lesaka’s playbook isn’t just about consolidation, it’s about building a vertically integrated fintech engine.
She points out that Lesaka is no longer a payments processor or a grant-wallet business.
Instead, it’s morphing into a multi-pillar financial platform that touches consumers, merchants, and enterprise utilities.
When you look at the details is clear that the company has a cross-segment reach: By combining Adumo’s merchant network with Recharger’s utility infrastructure, Lesaka could be bridging physical payments, software, and infrastructure. This is more than horizontal expansion; it’s layering its services.
Lesaka’s EasyPay consumer business has historically focused on underserved populations, including social grant recipients. The acquisitions reinforce that mission while giving Lesaka a pipeline to monetise more deeply across its customer base.
In terms of Scale and ambition, with 1.7 million active users and over 120,000 merchants under its umbrella post-Adumo, Lesaka is no longer a niche player. At the same time, its move into private utilities via Recharger signals real ambition to transform how everyday services are paid for.
Fast Company has traditionally spotlighted companies that don’t just compete; they build entirely new models.
Lesaka is doing exactly that, as it is reimagining payments, not just processing them. The company is also redefining what a fintech company looks like by combining consumer, merchant, and real-economy infrastructure.
Lastly, the fintech is betting on scale and local relevance, using its deep understanding of Southern Africa to go after mission-driven and commercial opportunities simultaneously.
FAST COMPANY (SA)