Egypt-based fintech infrastructure provider MDP has announced a new strategic investment led by Lorax Capital Partners (LCP), marking a significant transition in its investor base as AfricInvest, its long-term partner, completes a full exit.
The funding round, which also includes co-investments from major international development finance institutions — namely the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco — is a vote of confidence in the role of MDP as a regional enabler of payment systems.
The company, co-founded and led by Ahmed Nafie, offers an end-to-end digital payment infrastructure solution across Africa and the Middle East. Its platform spans card issuance and processing, cloud-native digital banking capabilities, and a suite of APIs powering fintech innovation. According to the company, MDP has issued over 350 million cards and processed more than 1 billion transactions to date, serving more than 200 banks and 60 fintech companies in over 40 countries.
“This investment represents a major milestone in MDP’s growth journey,” said Nafie in a statement, adding that the company is now positioned to “deepen its technology stack, accelerate market expansion, and strengthen its presence across emerging markets.”
The transaction also marks the exit of AfricInvest, a Tunisia-headquartered pan-African private equity firm that first invested in MDP several years ago. While details of AfricInvest’s return on investment were not disclosed, the exit reflects a maturing ecosystem for fintech infrastructure plays in the region — a sector often overshadowed by flashier consumer-facing fintechs but critical for scaling digital finance.
AfricInvest’s exit and the subsequent entry of a new investor group comes amid a broader uptick in strategic bets on financial infrastructure providers in Africa and the Middle East. Development finance institutions, in particular, have shown growing interest in companies that enable broader financial inclusion goals through back-end infrastructure.
For Lorax Capital Partners, which has previously backed Egyptian fintechs and growth-stage companies, the investment in MDP aligns with its focus on high-impact sectors in the region.
The broader investment context also reflects a subtle shift in fintech funding across Africa and MENA. While startup fundraising remains subdued compared to peak levels seen in 2021, companies like MDP — with demonstrated scale, profitability pathways, and enabling infrastructure — are increasingly becoming attractive to institutional capital.
The investment will support MDP’s push into new markets and continued development of its technology platform. Nafie hinted that the firm is eyeing deeper penetration into underserved markets, where demand for scalable and secure payment infrastructure is growing rapidly.