Cairo-based Beltone Holding has officially completed its acquisition of Baobab Group for €197.6 million ($235.9 million), a move that finalizes one of the most significant cross-border financial deals between North and Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years.
The transaction, executed through the firm’s investment arm Beltone Capital, gives the Egyptian financial giant an immediate footprint across seven African markets, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.
The Breakdown
- The Price Tag: €197.6 million for 100% of the shares.
- The Reach: Beltone enters Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Madagascar.
- The Prize: Baobab Group manages a loan book of €848.8 million and serves 1.6 million clients.
- The Exit: The deal allows previous majority shareholders, including UK-based private equity firm Apis Partners and Abler Nordic, to fully exit their positions.
From Broker to Pan-African Platform
Historically known as an Egyptian brokerage and asset manager, Beltone has spent the last 18 months repositioning itself as a technology-led financial conglomerate. This acquisition isn’t just about geography; it’s a bet on microfinance digitization.
As of late 2025, approximately 50% of Baobab’s loans were processed through digital platforms using automated credit scoring. For Beltone, the goal is to export its data-driven model from Egypt — where its venture capital arm (BVC) has been aggressively backing logistics and fintech startups — into the faster-growing markets of the WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) zone.
Nigeria remains the centerpiece of the expansion. In March 2025, just before the Beltone deal moved into its final stages, Baobab Group consolidated its Nigerian operations by buying out Alitheia Capital and Goodwell Investments.
Now under Beltone’s umbrella, Baobab Nigeria — which holds a national microfinance license — is looking to scale from its current 38 branches to over 100. The focus will be on MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), a sector that serves as the backbone of the Nigerian economy but remains chronically underbanked.
A Growing North-South Corridor
This deal highlights a broader trend: Egyptian tech and finance players are increasingly looking South for growth as their domestic market matures.
In 2024, Beltone Venture Capital emerged as one of the continent’s most active early-stage investors, backing firms like Trella (logistics) and Grinta (healthcare). By acquiring Baobab, Beltone moves from being a minority investor in startups to an infrastructure owner in seven African nations.
“This acquisition fuels our data-driven regional expansion into high-growth African markets,” said Dalia Khorshid, Group CEO of Beltone Holding. “We are committed to a transformational impact in financial services backed by data science.”
What to Watch Next
The integration phase will be the real test. Beltone plans to layer its “comprehensive financial solutions” — which include consumer finance, leasing, and factoring — onto Baobab’s existing micro-lending infrastructure.
The success of this deal will depend on how well an Egyptian corporate culture can adapt to the regulatory nuances of the Francophone WAEMU region and the competitive, high-stakes environment of Nigerian fintech.