Nigerian-based payment processing company, Interswitch, has announced that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) previously scheduled for 2016 will now take place in 2019.
According to Akeem Lawal, the Interswitch’s divisional chief executive officer for switching and processing; the dual listing in London and Lagos to raise as much as $1 billion had been scheduled because equity markets were not as “favorable as we would have liked,”
He remarked on the sidelines of a conference in Nairobi, Kenya; “We will come back to it because it is an important part of our strategy.” “It will happen before the end of 2019.”
In Nigeria and Kenya 255,700 transactions have been made in the two months its been in operation. Ghana and Tanzania will be added within two months, and the company aims to have the system operational in 12 nations by February, Lawal said. Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd., First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., Diamond Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc are using the platform and three other lenders are in the process of being signed on, he said.
“QR has a unique advantage which has been demonstrated in China and India, because it is convenient, it is easier to use and the cost of deployment is low,” Lawal said.
Credit: Bloomberg
