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Network International Reports Strong H1 2022 Results with Revenue Up 31% and Profit Increasing 113%

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Network International

Network International’s offering includes acquiring and processing services, and an ever-evolving range of value-added services

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, August 11, 2022/APO Group/ — 

The company, which operates across Africa and the Middle East, has seen financial outcomes that reflect solid trading and strategic delivery, driving strong cashflow generation; Figures include new financial institution wins and merchant signups; accelerated transaction growth; cross-selling and launching of new value-added services; and new products and capabilities gaining momentum; Customer wins in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and direct-to-merchant services underway in Egypt; Consistent growth across Africa with revenue increased by 55.8% y/y to USD 68.5 million; Total Processed Volumes (“TPV”) increased 43% y/y supported by strategic focus on SME and online merchants.

Network International interim results 

Network International reports strong H1 2022 results with total revenue growing 31% y/y demonstrating broad-based growth across all regions and business lines, with Africa growing 21% y/y excluding DPO Group and the Middle East up 22% y/y.

Profit for the period was USD 32.0 million, up 113% y/y. Underlying free cash flow was USD 40.0 million, up 90% y/y; and cash flow from operating activities was USD 90.6 million, supported by strong underlying business performance and higher net profit.

Network International, comprised of a group of companies, is a leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East & Africa, providing a full suite of technology enabled payment solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all types and sizes.

Network International’s offering includes acquiring and processing services, and an ever-evolving range of value-added services. In 2021, Network International acquired DPO Group, a leading African digital payments company, in a landmark deal for the African payments landscape.

Network International has offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Egypt, and client presence across almost all other African countries.

Nandan Mer, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“We are encouraged by the continued progress of our growth strategy, with another strong trading period delivering 31% y/y revenue growth. This is supported by the acceleration of digital payments growth across our markets, successful strategic execution and share gains in our home market of the UAE. Our market entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is progressing well, having recently secured a second new customer this year. We also see an opportunity to return excess cash to shareholders through a share buyback programme, whilst retaining our existing flexibility to take advantage of additional growth opportunities which may arise.

Overall, our performance in the first half underpins our outlook and guidance for the year ahead, which is reconfirmed. Whilst we remain conscious of rising global macroeconomic and inflationary pressures, we continue to see steady trading in our major markets.”

New customer wins: continues to develop at record levels

The pace of new Financial Institution (FI) customer wins in Acquirer Processing and Issuer Solutions remains ahead of pre-pandemic levels. Network secured nine new customers in the period, including Money Fellows, Network’s first fintech win in Egypt; Fair Money Digital Bank, one of Nigeria’s premier digital banks; and Alain Finance PJSC, the company’s first non-banking FI customer in the UAE. Network renewed three existing contracts and expanded portfolios with customers through successful cross-selling; including the deployment of N-GeniusTM payment terminals to Access Bank in Botswana, among others. 

Network also saw a record period for new merchant sign ups such as Chanel, Hilton Palm Jumeirah and Landmark Group in the UAE, alongside Talabat and Marriot Amman in Jordan, amongst many others. The focus within the SME space remains successful, with signings doubling year-on-year vs H1 2021, supported by the launch of automated onboarding, low cost ‘Tap on Phone’ payment acceptance and web-store services associated with the ‘DPO Pay’ package. DPO has also rolled out proprietary N-GeniusTM payment terminals to the entire Roads and Transport Authority taxi fleet in Dubai.

Capabilities: a widening revenue pool and increasing customer loyalty through new capabilities

Network provided new services for FIs and credential issuing customers including:

  • Implementing more APIs, accelerating customer onboarding process and simplifying the integration of new capabilities, which is particularly attractive for fintech customers.
  • Providing real time, improved credit-based analysis and approvals to FIs through the Falcon Fraud Prevention solution, in partnership with FICO.
  • Launching Chat banking services to FI customers in Africa with Infobip, enabling real-time customer service chat and push notifications to consumers, whilst supporting Network’s commitment to improving financial inclusion. 
  • Launching the N-GeniusTM Terminal Management System, a web tool enabling FIs to independently manage their merchant customers’ Point-Of-Sale device, in real time.
  • Continuing good progress on initiatives with Mastercard, having onboarded several FIs with 3D Secure 2.0 biometric authentication fraud checking capabilities. Network has also seen ‘Fintech in a box’ gain traction across new markets including Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and Jordan; where it can support the issuance of cards and undertake processing for fintechs.

Whilst we remain conscious of rising global macroeconomic and inflationary pressures, we continue to see steady trading in our major markets

Network has also launched or will be launching value-added services including:

  • Supporting merchants through a dedicated value-added-services team, managing the development of products, partnerships and enhancing go-to-market strategy.   
  • Enabling faster sign up of merchants having launched fully automated digital onboarding.
  • Developing Unified Commerce services by providing a single, centralized view of transactions across online and offline payment channels, as well as enhanced reporting tools and data insights on consumer spending. Network already offers merchants the ability to enable ‘Click and Collect’ payment services and ‘Buy Online, Return in Store’ via its proprietary N-GeniusTM platform. Looking ahead, the company intends to expand these services to include a wider range of cross-channel refunds, such as ‘Buy in-store and refund online’, provide real-time access to consumer transaction data and reporting, real-time fraud screening analytics and additional tools such as merchant cost efficiency reporting.  
  • Launching a fully integrated payments platform tailored to the hospitality industry, in partnership with FreedomPay. The omni-channel platform provides merchants with a unified view of transactions across their entire operation, including front desk reservations, restaurants, bars, theme parks and spas.
  • Launching ‘Foodics Pay’, for SMEs in the food and beverage space, reducing costs for merchants by unifying tasks such as single receipts, daily settlements and chargeback support on a single app. The sector-specific solutions support our strategic focus on SMEs.

DPO: acceleration in trading through the first half, supported by the launch of new capabilities

DPO delivered good growth in the first half of 2022 with Total Processed Volume (TPV) increasing 27% year-on-year (33% in constant FX); whilst revenue increased 23% year-on-year (29% in constant FX). Trading volumes accelerated through the period, with Q2 revenue up 35% year-on-year in constant FX, compared with the Q1 up 22% year-on-year in constant FX.

DPO secured several new key merchants including Dischem Baby City, Europcar and Pernod Ricard. The wins and improving trading performance were supported by marketing channel developments which have accelerated new merchant acquisitions and the introduction of real-time onboarding in 18 countries outside of South Africa. DPO also added new payment methods, rolling out Airtel money in a further three markets and enabling account-to-account payment for all DPO merchants in South Africa and Nigeria.

New markets: customer wins in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; direct-to-merchant services in Egypt

Network has signed two additional FIs for Issuer Solutions processing services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These contracts provide a solid underpin to Network’s revenue target. Full technology deployment on-soil and established connectivities with domestic and international card schemes has been completed.

In Egypt, Network is launching direct-to-merchant payment services focusing on the SME segment during the second half of 2022. The company expects the revenue opportunity to build from 2023 onwards.

Africa: a robust and consistent growth

DPO’s Africa segment operates across 40 countries and contributed 33% of total revenue in the period (H1 2021: 28%). The majority of business activities relate to payment processing on behalf of Financial Institutions across Issuer and Merchant Solutions, and also includes direct-to-merchant services in 21 markets through DPO.

Africa revenue increased by 55.8% y/y to USD 68.5 million (H1 2021: USD 44.0 million), including a USD 15.2 million contribution from DPO. Excluding DPO, revenue growth was 21.1% y/y.

Overall performance in Africa remains robust, with growth consistent between the quarters. Excluding DPO, performance was relatively stronger in Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa than seen in Southern Africa. The region saw continued expansion in all associated KPIs, with particularly strong growth in the number of transactions processed across Issuer Solutions services.   

Contribution for the Africa segment increased 80.0% y/y, to USD 50.2 million (H1 2021: USD 27.9 million), with margins up 980 bps y/y to 73.3% (H1 2021: 63.5%), driven by the inclusion of DPO which has higher contribution margins. Excluding DPO, contribution for Africa increased by 36.4% y/y to USD 38.1 million, with margins of 71.5%, up 800 bps y/y, reflecting the significant revenue growth and inherent operating leverage in the business.

Issuer Solutions revenue: strong growth in Africa

Issuer Solutions represents 50% of total revenue (H1 2021: 55%) and is broadly balanced between the Middle East and Africa regions.

During the first half, revenue increased by 17.5% y/y to USD 101.8 million (H1 2021: USD 86.7 million). Strong growth was seen in both quarters, with trends in KPIs also robust as credentials hosted increased 4.3% y/y and growth in the number of transactions accelerated, up 30.1% y/y. Whilst the performance is reflective of solid trading across all regions, Africa delivered particularly strong growth, supported by an increase in credentials hosted following the onboarding of new customers in the prior year and an improvement in cross-sell. The overall momentum in new business wins, cross-selling and expansion of existing client portfolios remains positive, resulting in revenues from new contracts and renewed card portfolios alongside value added and project-based services.

Merchant Solutions revenue

Merchant Solutions is focused on direct-to-merchant payment services, alongside acquirer processing activities for Financial Institutions. Revenues are predominantly generated in the UAE and Jordan, with the addition of DPO expanding direct-to-merchant presence across Africa.

Revenue for Merchant Solutions, which represents 50% of total revenue (H1 2021: 43%), grew 53.1% y/y to USD 101.8 million (H1 2021: USD 66.5 million).

Excluding DPO, TPV and revenue growth trends were particularly strong in Q1. Domestic TPV was supported by improving consumer confidence and general economic conditions, whilst International TPV was supported by high visitor numbers, Dubai EXPO and sporting events. KPIs remained comfortably ahead of pre-pandemic levels, with domestic TPV up 18% vs. H1 2019 and International TPV up 7% vs. H1 2019.

Revenue growth at DPO improved significantly through the period, where Q1 was impacted by the mix of strategic merchant and gateway volumes. Q2 saw an acceleration, supported by exceptionally strong growth outside of South Africa following a strong recovery from the pandemic, and the launch of new capabilities including automated merchant onboarding. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Network International.

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China’s digital hub Hangzhou hosts conference on AI, OPC

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June 30, 2026

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OPC

HANGZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 June 2026 – The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference was held from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Centered on one-person company (OPC), a new form of smart economy in the AI era, the conference program comprised one opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions.

It gathered around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises and OPC startup operators across the country. Participants exchanged insights on AI innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies, injecting strong impetus into Hangzhou’s ambition to develop a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.

A series of key launches and milestone ceremonies took place during the opening segment. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou’s 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.

The ceremony featured multiple landmark initiatives: plaque awarding for Hangzhou’s priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub.

The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders. Speakers included Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District’s single-member unicorn startup acceleration community, who shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.

A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges.

Complementary concurrent events held throughout the conference included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.

OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference unites OPC innovators nationwide.

Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivers sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou’s super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.

 

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Hainan FTP marks 6-month milestone of special customs operations, signs deals during Hong Kong visit

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June 30, 2026

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Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – As the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) marked the six-month milestone since the launch of its full special customs operations, a Hainan provincial delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Hong Kong. During the visit, the delegation signed deepened cooperation agreements with several major local chambers of commerce and promoted the latest policies introduced since the island-wide special customs operations took effect.

According to data released by Hainan Province during the visit, Hainan’s foreign trade has surged since the launch of special customs operations. As of June 17, the province’s total goods imports and exports reached RMB 173.98 billion (approximately US$24 billion), up 54.6% year on year. Imports of zero-tariff goods hit RMB 2.645 billion, a 120% jump that generated tariff savings of RMB 440 million. A total of 172,100 new market entities were registered—a 61% increase—including 1,240 foreign-invested enterprises. Zero-tariff items now account for 74% of all tariff lines, benefiting more than 12,000 market entities.

During the Hong Kong visit, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hainan Provincial Committee (CCPIT Hainan) signed separate deepened cooperation MOUs with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Under the MOUs, the parties will establish a regular liaison mechanism for the periodic exchange of economic and trade information, and will promote collaboration in areas including professional services, green finance, the digital economy, supply chain management, and cultural tourism. Mutual enterprise service desks will be set up to provide consulting services regarding policies and projects. The parties will leverage their complementary strengths to help Chinese mainland enterprises access overseas markets via Hong Kong, while facilitating Hong Kong companies’ entry into the Chinese mainland through Hainan.

The delegation also held talks with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, exploring ways for British and American businesses to leverage Hainan’s value-added processing tariff exemptions and multifunctional free trade accounts to position themselves in regional supply chains and cross-border investment and financing. HSBC, De Beers, and other British firms are already active in Hainan, and the UK served as the Guest of Honor country at the 2025 China International Consumer Products Expo.

According to industry analysts, amid the shifting international trade landscape, Hainan is leveraging Hong Kong’s “super-connector” role to accelerate its integration with global capital and business networks, while simultaneously offering the Hong Kong business community a policy testing ground for entering the Chinese mainland market.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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