African payments company Flutterwave has received a new investment from blockchain firm Ripple during its Series E funding round. This deal values Flutterwave at $3.25 billion and makes Ripple an official shareholder in the company.
As part of this partnership, Flutterwave is adding Ripple’s technology to its platform to make sending money across African borders much faster and cheaper.
Big news! 🌍🚀@Ripple has made a strategic investment in Flutterwave as part of our Series E fundraising round.
We’ve spent years building our stablecoin infrastructure and today it’s live commercially with select merchants.
Together, we’re integrating RLUSD, Ripple Payments,… pic.twitter.com/hzP9GBcaLb
— Flutterwave (@theflutterwave) June 16, 2026
Bringing B2B Settlements via RLUSD and XRPL
The deal links Ripple’s new RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple Payments, and the XRP Ledger directly with Flutterwave’s system. This system lets businesses settle transactions almost instantly instead of waiting days for traditional bank transfers. The firms want to capture a major share of Africa’s cross-border payment market, which may hit $1.5 trillion by 2030.
Businesses usually face big US dollar shortages and high foreign exchange fees. Traditional bank transfers can take up to five days to clear. By using Ripple’s digital asset system, Flutterwave merchants can now bypass these old banking networks. The XRP Ledger acts as the main setup, matching local currencies with digital tokens to complete payments in seconds.
In addition, another Ripple investment-related move in Africa is its expansion of institutional digital asset custody through a partnership with Absa Bank in South Africa, which Ripple describes as its first major custody partner on the continent. Ripple also says it had already extended its Africa presence through support for Chipper Cash and the launch of its USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD in the region.
How fast is Africa’s fintech sector growth?
Africa’s fintech rules are growing fast, but they are still not the same across the continent. Different countries use different rules. In many countries, the main focus is on payments, mobile money, e-money, customer protection, anti-money laundering, and data safety.
Paga, a leading Nigerian fintech, partnered with Crossmint in June 2026 to expand stablecoin payments across Africa. This means Paga’s 27M+ users and merchants can now accept/send USDC and other stablecoins, with instant conversion to naira. This tackles naira volatility, high remittance fees, and slow cross-border settlement.
Paga gains crypto rails without building blockchain infrastructure, while Crossmint enters Africa’s largest fintech market. The move positions Nigerian fintech at the center of stablecoin adoption, giving SMEs and freelancers cheaper, faster USD access.
Notably, Flutterwave has also partnered with Tempo to launch stablecoin payments across Africa in June 2026. The integration lets Flutterwave merchants accept USDC and other stablecoins via Tempo’s blockchain rails, then settle instantly in local currency.
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