AfricInvest Vehicle FIVE Backs Vantage Payment System’s Moroccan Expansion
The financial inclusion fund invests in holding company Equity Invest to consolidate full ownership of VPS and fund its nationwide point-of-sale acquiring rollout.
CASABLANCA — Pan-African asset manager AfricInvest has injected capital into Moroccan fintech Vantage Payment System (VPS) through its specialized permanent-capital vehicle, Financial Inclusion Vehicle (FIVE).
The investment was structured into Equity Invest, the personal holding company of VPS majority shareholder Ali Bettahi. The deal enabled Equity Invest to acquire the remaining equity and consolidate 100% ownership of VPS, positioning the fintech to scale its digital payment infrastructure across Morocco. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Full Shareholder Consolidation to Drive Proximity Acquiring
Operating under a payment institution license issued by Bank Al-Maghrib, VPS has historically built its market footprint around e-commerce acquiring. The consolidation of its shareholder base provides capital to expand into proximity acquiring and point-of-sale (POS) hardware deployment across Moroccan merchants.
According to company data, offline payments executed via POS hardware accounted for nearly 90% of all electronic transactions in Morocco in 2025, with online e-commerce representing roughly 10%.
Under Chairman Ali Bettahi, VPS will deploy capital from FIVE to expand its commercial footprint nationwide, invest in product development, and scale its proprietary SoftPOS and terminal acquiring technologies. The expanded platform aims to provide unified payment acceptance spanning online store checkout, mobile devices, and physical in-store card terminals.
Institutional Backing in Cash-Dominant Ecosystem
Led by Partner Omar Bekkali, AfricInvest's FIVE fund targets financial institutions and digital fintech platforms that expand financial inclusion across Africa. VPS holds PCI DSS security certification alongside principal operating approvals from Visa and Mastercard.
The investment aligns with broader initiatives in Morocco to digitize merchant payments and reduce heavy reliance on physical cash. VPS joins FIVE's broader African fintech portfolio, which includes cross-border infrastructure provider Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), diaspora remittance platform Kredete, vehicle finance provider Moove, and Moroccan commercial bank CFG Bank.
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