Egyptian mogul Ashraf Sabry’s Fawry sees $700 million in payment acceptance transactions in 2021

Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments, a leading Egyptian payment platform led by multimillionaire businessman Ashraf Sabry, has revealed that it processed payment acceptance transactions worth more than EGP11 billion ($700.3 million) in 2021.

According to Mubasher, the value of transactions processed by the Egyptian fintech unicorn through its acceptance machines increased by 232 percent year-on-year to EGP6 billion ($382 million) in 2021 as a result of the rapid adoption of its services and the gradual reopening of the economy.

Fawry’s payment acceptance transactions via the online gateway increased 400 percent to EGP5 billion ($318.4 million), cementing its position as the leading fintech company in Egypt, Africa’s second-largest economy.

Fawry CEO Ashraf Sabry revealed that the company’s financial inclusion and digital transformation strategy in the field of electronic payments and collections aligns with Egypt’s 2030 vision of providing cashless payment methods on a large scale, while reducing costs.

“At Fawry, we are working to support and stimulate the use of electronic channels in digital payments, as well as to protect the rights of users of payment systems and services via merchant point of sale devices, with the ultimate goal of facilitating people’s lives,” he said.

With a market capitalization of more than $1 billion, Fawry is one of Africa’s few tech unicorns. Its payment platform and technology serve more than 250 e-payment services through its network of over 105,000 service points in 300 Egyptian cities.

Sabry owns 2.345 percent of the company after developing the payment platform in 2008 and championing electronic bill payments in Egypt.

As of press time on Jan. 31, shares in the leading fintech company were trading on the Egyptian Stock Exchange at EGP9.89 ($0.63), 1.79-percent lower than their opening price on the local bourse.

Its current market capitalization is EGP16.89 billion ($1.08 billion), while Sabry’s 2.345-percent stake is worth EGP396.1 million ($25.22 million).

Fawry recently announced plans to list in the United States through an SEC-registered secondary offering, as well as to raise its issued capital by EGP800 million ($50.9 million) to fund its expansion plans.

As part of the planned listing, Fawry’s share capital will be increased by EGP800 million ($50.9 million) through a rights issue for current shareholders, from EGP853.65 million ($54.3 million) to EGP1.653 billion ($105.1 million).

The management believes that the move will not only help the company’s development but also allow it to expand its product offerings on MyFawry, implement its investment strategy and help the emerging startup and fintech ecosystem.