What Baobab Group does

Baobab Group is a Paris-headquartered digital microfinance institution that provides credit and financial services to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses across seven African markets: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria. The company operates through seven wholly-owned country subsidiaries, each holding the local regulatory permissions required to lend, and serves approximately 1.6 million customers with a loan book of €848.8 million as of Q3 2025 and €1.2 billion disbursed in 2025. Distribution is branch-led, supplemented by a digital channel that processed 46% of loans in 2025, reflecting an explicit digitalization strategy articulated by management.

The product set is concentrated around micro and small business finance, with digital loans as the principal growth lever. Underlying the offering is what Baobab describes as a "dynamic and scalable technology platform" powering loan origination, disbursement, and servicing across markets. The company has pursued inorganic growth alongside organic expansion, completing the acquisitions of MicroKing Finance in 2016 and Oxus RDC in 2018. In February 2026, Beltone Holding, through Beltone Capital, completed the acquisition of 100% of Baobab for €197.6 million, marking Beltone's first cross-border and largest-ever deal.

Revenue is generated primarily through interest and fees on the microfinance loan book; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The customer base is almost entirely SMB and micro-entrepreneur (restaurants, retail, textile, printing, fabric shops), segmented horizontally across countries rather than by industry vertical. In June 2026, Baobab extended its partnership with the IFC to scale SME financing and technology-enabled financial solutions across African markets.

Name

Baobab Group

Legal name

Baobab Group

Website

https://baobabgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Baobab Group is a Paris-based digital microfinance institution operating through seven African subsidiaries that lend to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, serving 1.6 million customers across Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Mali, DRC, and Nigeria with a €848.8M loan book.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Microfinance and Small Business Lending: Baobab Group generates revenue through providing microfinance and small business loans. The company disburses over EUR 1 billion in new loans each year, with EUR 1.2 billion disbursed to customers in 2025. The company maintains a loan book of EUR 848.8 million as of Q3 2025, serving approximately 1.6 million customers across seven African markets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Baobab Group provides microfinance and small business loans to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses across seven African markets (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria) through a network of country subsidiaries and a digital lending platform. The company disbursed €1.2 billion to approximately 1.6 million customers in 2025, with 46% of loans originated digitally through its scalable technology platform.

Product overview

Baobab Group is a leading financial services provider to small businesses across Africa, operating through seven subsidiaries across Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria. The company offers a unified platform of financial services including Digital Loans and micro/small business finance, disbursing over EUR 1 billion annually (€1.2 billion in 2025) to approximately 1.6 million customers. The portfolio includes both traditional and digital loan products, with 46% of loans now processed digitally through the company's scalable technology platform. Following the 2026 acquisition by Beltone Holding for €197.6 million, the combined entity aims to develop technology-enabled financial solutions for African markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Micro and Small Business Finance Core financial services targeting micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses across Africa, including restaurant owners, printing company owners, textile-sector businesswomen, and fabric shop owners. Baobab disbursed €1.2 billion to customers in 2025 through this offering, with a loan book of €848.8 million as of Q3 2025 serving approximately 1.6 million customers across seven African markets.
• Digital Loans Digital loan products enabling faster, more inclusive, and accessible financial services to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses across Baobab's seven African markets. Digital loans represent 46% of total loan disbursements and are delivered through the company's scalable technology platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• €1.2 billion disbursed to customers in 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Tala: Mobile-data-underwritten digital lender serving underbanked consumers and small businesses in Mexico, the Philippines, Kenya, and India. Comparable on the digital alternative-credit-underwriting thesis serving micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets, though outside Africa.
• OPay: Super-app fintech operating mobile money, lending, and merchant payments across Nigeria, Egypt, and other African markets. Competes with Baobab in Nigerian SME payments and credit, though broader scope across many fintech verticals rather than a specialist lender.
• M-Kopa: Kenya-based fintech providing pay-as-you-go financing for smartphones, solar, and other assets to underbanked customers across East and West Africa. Comparable on serving financially excluded customers with asset-backed digital credit, though focused on asset financing rather than working capital.
• Branch International: Mobile-first digital lender providing instant loans to underbanked consumers and small businesses in Africa (Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, India). Directly comparable on the digital microcredit thesis for the same customer segment Baobab targets, but with a pure-app model versus Baobab's branch+digital hybrid.

Direct peers

• FairMoney: Nigeria-headquartered digital micro-lender and neobank serving salaried workers and small businesses in Nigeria and expanding across Africa and Europe. Direct competitor for Nigerian micro-entrepreneur credit with comparable digital onboarding and small-ticket loans.
• Letshego Holdings: Botswana-listed inclusive finance group providing microloans, savings, and insurance to underserved customers across 11 African markets including Nigeria and several WAEMU countries. Closely comparable multi-country African consumer/SME finance operator with similar mission and customer base.
• ProCredit Holding: German-based group of development-oriented commercial banks serving SMEs in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and several African markets. Comparable as a non-bank-style SME lender with a digital transformation agenda, multi-country footprint, and development-finance shareholder base.
• Advans Group: French-origin microfinance institution network serving micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses across Africa and Asia, with operations in WAEMU countries, Madagascar, and DRC that overlap directly with Baobab's footprint. Comparable in business model, customer base, and regulatory complexity.
• Carbon (formerly Carbon Finance): Nigeria-licensed digital lender providing consumer and small business loans via mobile app, operating across Nigeria and other African markets. Directly competes for the same Nigerian SMB and micro-entrepreneur customer segment Baobab's Baobab Nigeria subsidiary serves.

Broad incumbents

• Equity Group Holdings: Large East African bank group with SME and microfinance banking in multiple markets, strong digital banking platform (Equitel, EazzyBanking) and a comparable mass-market financial inclusion mandate. Overlaps with Baobab on SME and inclusive finance but operates at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/baobab_group
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCquse2ZhcjI9WCvPH0EozLg
• Facebookfacebook.com/baobabgroup.microcred
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/groupe-baobab
• Instagraminstagram.com/baobabgroupe

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Baobab Group