Business Desk 
Competition Authority of Kenya(CAK) has approved full acquisition of Kopo Kopo Incorporated, a digital financial company that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises by Moniepoint, an American firm.
The competition Authority okayed the transaction as it was unlikely to negatively impact competition in the digital credit market.
“Given that Moniepoint does not have current operations in Kenya, the firm had no turnover or assets in the preceding year to lodge the merger application (2022). Kopo Kopo Inc., is a company incorporated in the United States of America,” CAK said in a statement.
“It has operations in Kenya under the brand Kopo Kopo Inc. (Kenya Branch),” it added.
Kopo Kopo has been in the country since 2021 acting as a digital payment solution giving access to credit and other business tools through integrated software.
“The transaction, therefore, qualified as a merger pursuant to sections 2 and 41 of the Competition Act, No. 12 of 2010. The Act stipulates that a merger, or takeover, may occur when an undertaking directly or indirectly acquires control over another business within Kenya,“The statement read in part.
Kopo Kopo was founded in 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, by Ben Lyon and Dylan Higgins.It provides digital payment solutions, access to credit, and other business tools through integrated software. Its services include payment aggregation, business-to-business payments, merchant cash advances, business intelligence, and more.
