Technology

Posted on August 30, 2018 by staff

UK FinTech hails exciting African deal

Technology

Digital money transfer firm Azimo has agreed a partnership deal with a payment processing company in Africa.

The deal with Interswitch Group will allow London-based Azimo to serve more people in Nigeria, and will allow its customers to carry out instant money transfers from over 20 countries in Europe.

According to Azimo, the move will also help in tackling the problem of financial exclusion in Nigeria, where 40 per cent of the population is ‘unbanked’.

“A huge and rapidly growing population coupled with the explosion of smartphone ownership mean that Africa and in particular Nigeria is one of the most exciting markets on the planet,” said Azimo founder and CEO Michael Kent.

Under the longer-term deal, the two companies will build new mobile-based financial services for Interswitch’s rapidly expanding customer base of over 25 million people in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

“We look forward to working with Fintech leader Interswitch to build new digital low-cost financial services that drive inclusion and transform the financial lives of our customers in both the UK and Africa,” added Kent.

Mitchell Elegbe, group MD and CEO of Interswitch, praised Azimo’s “great tech capability” and “strong knowledge of our core markets”.

He said: “This agreement is a key milestone in our common strategy to better serve Nigerians wherever they are located around the world.”

Azimo is in Africa this week as part of a trade delegation with Prime Minister Theresa May.

“The scale of opportunity for the capital’s businesses across Africa is huge,” she said.

“111 African companies have already come to London to raise the funds they need to invest and grow, and now we want to go further to ensure that the UK is the partner of choice for African nations.”