When Moniepoint raised $110 million in October 2024 to become a unicorn, not only its early investors made money from selling shares to new investors. At least two senior employees also sold part of their shares in the round, making $20,000 and $850,000 (₦1.3 billion), respectively, according to documents seen by TechCabal.

These employee share sales were the second of their kind for the decade-old company, as senior employees previously sold shares to investors during the company’s last fundraise in 2022. Over time, secondaries have become an integral part of senior employee benefits as Moniepoint continues to attract and retain senior executives from other financial institutions.

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“Equity is both a way to acquire staff and a means of staff retention,” Emmanuel Faith, an HR specialist, told TechCabal.

Earlier this year, at Moniepoint town hall meetings, the employee share sale was announced, and qualified employees were notified with criteria, documents, and instructions via mail. The company also educated employees on how to sell shares via Carta, a marketplace for startup equity, according to one of the employees.

Moniepoint declined to comment.

Employee share sales remain rare in Africa’s tech ecosystem. However, as the continent’s largest startups remain private for longer periods and traditional exit paths, such as IPOs or acquisitions, remain scarce, secondary sales have emerged as a preferred way to reward long-term commitment and high-performing employees. Arnergy, a Nigerian solar energy startup, allowed employees to sell their shares to new investors in April.

“This was something we only saw in movies like Silicon Valley and The Social Network,” said one of the Moniepoint employees who asked not to be named for privacy reasons. “I didn’t expect it at first. Paystack did it, but that was later. We weren’t familiar with it locally. Over time, we learnt more and became hopeful.”

When companies raise money from new investors, they can allow employees to sell their shares instead of issuing new shares. The size of the investors’ commitment typically determines how much is set aside for these employee secondaries.

In Moniepoint’s case, the company decided that some money from new investors would be allocated to buying shares from employees, who were then given the option to decide how much they wanted to sell.

Due to the large demand for cash, Moniepoint only allowed employees who had spent three years at the company to sell shares in this round and set a limit on how many shares employees could sell. The employee who made $850,000 only sold a third of their shares. Employee shares become fully vested after four years, with 25% vesting annually.

These shares were not sold at Moniepoint’s unicorn valuation because later-stage investors typically buy shares from earlier investors and employees at a discounted price due to a supply and demand imbalance, as the sellers often have limited options for liquidity.

But that did not dampen the morale of the two employees, who have been with Moniepoint for ten and seven years. They both requested anonymity for privacy reasons. “It came at a great time. I had personal financial plans, and this cash gave me a boost,” one of the employees said.

In May, when TechCabal reported on Arnergy’s employee share sales, a recurring theme among staff was the deep sense of ownership that equity created. That same theme echoed in conversations with Moniepoint employees, who described their equity not just as compensation but as a stake in the company’s journey and success.

“At the beginner stage, companies issue equity because they know that they cannot afford to pay the market value of the talents they are bringing on board,” Faith said.”There is nothing that says ‘we believe in you and we want you to believe in us’ more than giving equity,” Faith said.

While employee equity has long been overlooked in Nigeria’s tech industry, the growing trend of companies like Moniepoint and Arnergy rewarding staff with share ownership is raising hopes that equity compensation will gradually become a standard practice.