NALA, an African payments company and money transfer app licensed in the UK, EU and US has officially launched payments to Nigeria to drive cross-border payments.
The announcement indicates the company’s push to deepen local partnerships and acquire licenses across the continent.
Earlier this year, NALA announced its approval for a license to provide payment systems by the Bank of Tanzania, which will enable direct integration with banks and mobile money operators such as M-Pesa.
Benjamin Fernandes, Nala’s CEO said “As we take our first strides into West Africa, Nigeria is a clear opportunity space for NALA. As a company, we are committed to advancing payment solutions for Africans worldwide.”
“We do so by innovating on status-quo tools while expanding access to improved technology infrastructure. Launching in Nigeria amplifies NALA’s reach and capacity to drive meaningful innovation in the African payments landscape. We believe this expansion lays the groundwork for NALA to compete and win on a Pan-African scale,” he said.
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According to Fernandes, NALA will invest in Nigeria by increasing the number of local jobs it provides and creating partnerships with local players such as banks and payout providers.
The fintech company noted that this is a significant move for NALA given their strong roots in East Africa, and alludes to the company’s intention to compete on a pan-African scale alongside West African players such as Send by Flutterwave, Lemfi and others.
Nigeria is the largest economic market in Africa. As of 2021, Nigeria’s GDP totalled $441 billion, placing it ahead of economies like Egypt and South Africa.
The country also has a robust migrant population, with almost 400k diasporans living in the United States and 200k living in the United Kingdom. Together, Nigeria’s robust economy and healthy diaspora population contribute to massive remittance inflows, amounting to more than £3 billion from the UK alone, or 1 percent of Nigeria’s GDP.
Despite the many options for sending money to Africa from abroad, the continent continues to be the most expensive place to send money.
The World Bank estimates average transfer fees to Africa at ~9 percent. Further, many existing options include hidden fees that make it hard to discern the true cost of sending money.
However, NALA is working towards changing the paradigm of financial tools for Africans by providing fair and transparent services to empower people with control over their finances.
