Ripple Buys Stake in Flutterwave Valued at $3.3B

Ripple has taken an equity stake in Flutterwave, the African payments firm that operates in 35 countries. Financial terms were not disclosed. Flutterwave’s CEO Olugbenga Agboola confirmed the investment values the company at $3.3 billion.

Under the agreement, Flutterwave will integrate Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple Payments and the XRP Ledger into its payments systems. The companies say the technical work aims to shorten settlement times and reduce transaction costs for remittances and cross-border business payments processed on Flutterwave’s platform.

The investment makes Ripple a shareholder rather than an owner or exclusive commercial partner. Flutterwave has recently expanded its digital asset offerings and will add Ripple’s tools to its existing payment stack.

Industry data from September 2025 show crypto adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa rose roughly 52% year over year, with more than $205 billion in onchain transaction volume recorded over that period. Stablecoins have been used as a dollar-pegged option for cross-border transfers, in part because they can lower fees and speed settlements.

The World Bank estimates that sending a $200 remittance to Sub-Saharan Africa typically costs recipients $13 to $17 in fees. Transfers using some stablecoins have been recorded at fees as low as $0.50 for USDT on certain networks and about $2 for USDC on others.

Other issuers and fintech firms have pursued similar partnerships in the region. USDC issuer Circle recently partnered with an African payments company to expand dollar-pegged stablecoin services focused on remittances.

Ripple has previously announced partnerships in Africa, including a collaboration with a South African bank last October to provide digital asset custody services to institutional clients.

Flutterwave will receive additional capital and onchain infrastructure to scale its merchant and payout networks. Ripple gains a stake in a payments ecosystem with significant cross-border transfer activity. Executives at both companies described the agreement as a way to combine Flutterwave’s local payments reach with Ripple’s blockchain settlement tools to speed cross-border transfers.