Azimo partners with Interswitch for cross-border payments
European digital money transfer Azimo has announced a partnership with African payments firm Interswitch Group. The deal will enable money transfers from 23 countries in Europe to any customer in Nigeria – Azimo’s biggest market.
“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 fintech markets on the planet,” says Michael Kent, founder and CEO of Azimo.
Kent says the firm is looking 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”. In Nigeria, around 40% of the population is unbanked.
Remittances in Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, have driven $22 billion in 2017 – the equivalent of 5.6% of Nigeria’s GDP and higher than the country’s oil revenues.
The two firms plan to build new mobile based financial services for Interswitch’s customer base of over 25 million people in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Nigeria is among the top five countries for inbound remittances with over $20 billion received every year according to the World Bank.
Azimo is in Africa this week as a part of trade delegation with UK Prime Minister Theresa May. During the state visit, the CEO will be visiting South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya to promote fintech innovation.
May says: “The scale of opportunity for the capital’s businesses across Africa is huge. 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.
“The London business representatives accompanying me on this visit are a fantastic showcase of the depth of world-class expertise and breadth of innovation which the capital is home to.”
Recently, FinTech Futures has reported on Azimo’s expansion in over ten countries for Nordic users, as well as a recent $20 million funding.
