Africa will be the first continent where Ebanx, a global fintech company focused on payments, will expand its operations and payment solutions.
The 10-year-old Brazilian business, which is already active in 15 Latin American nations, made this announcement last month in Mexico City during the sixth annual Latin America Summit powered by EBANX.
According to the fintech unicorn who has processed over $1 billion in payments, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria are the next major growth markets for digital payments and the digital market in the 2020s.
“Africa is now bursting with growth potential. Digital adoption and consumption of online goods and services have accelerated rapidly within its countries, and investment capital has been pouring into the region,” said Paula Bellizia, President, Global Payments at Ebanx said in a statement.
“After studying the region and building a deep understanding of its local players, entities, and challenges, we are diving into Africa to provide local payments solutions that will help build the digital economy at a rapid pace,” Bellizia further said.
Additionally, he said that it would promote financial inclusion for the populace and give people easier access to a wider range of goods and services from international vendors hoping to expand their market share there.
The rapidly expanding digital economy in Africa is still in its infancy, according to Joo Del Valle, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ebanx, and it is expected to continue growing up and to the right for the foreseeable future.
“Together with local players, Ebanx will be a catalyst to realize the many benefits of a digital economy even faster.”
A June 2022 report by Endeavor, with assistance from McKinsey & Company, estimates the digital opportunity in Africa at $115 billion, with a projected growth rate to $712 billion by 2050. Strong underpinning fundamentals that have been sped up by COVID-19 are what are driving the growth.
When asked about its strategy for entering Nigeria, the company revealed that it would test out Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a session-based protocol that uses the GSM signaling channel to access data and activate services.
It will use Instant EFT by OZOW in South Africa, an electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment option that enables online banking access for line shoppers to send an EFT that is instantly verified.
Additionally, Ebanx will test M-Pesa in Kenya, a mobile banking app that enables users to store and transfer money.
