Nigeria, April 3 -- Africa's payments giant Flutterwave has received regulatory approval in Nigeria, where its operational headquarters are located, to operate a microfinance unit.

The move will enable it to branch out into lending and holding deposits on behalf of customers.

Those services were previously outside the domain of the fintech powerhouse, which has built a reputation in payments, cross-border money transfers, switching, and card processing over 10 years of operation.

"This milestone allows us to make our infrastructure more efficient and deliver faster, more reliable financial services," Olugbenga Agboola, founder and CEO, said in a statement on Thursday.

"By operating directly within the financial system, we can streamli...