Wiza Jalakasi (Director, Africa Market Development). Image Credits:<\/strong> EBANX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Wiza<\/b>:<\/strong> Coverage and depth are essential for us. So for the big markets, we will go very deep, ensuring that we have an excellent understanding and all of the relevant payment methods. In some of the other markets, our merchants might not be as deep but need to be there because when they evaluate where to go next, they\u2019re going to sum up the opportunity as a function of the size of the footprint they can get. So for our merchants, it makes a difference to say that we can give you 11 countries instead of three, especially if they don\u2019t have any other context about Africa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EBANX will seek to establish partnerships on the continent if that\u2019s the case. Can you disclose some that have been struck already?<\/b><\/p>\n

Paula<\/b>:<\/strong> Yes, at the heart of what we do is the reach and the deepness of our partnerships in every market we operate in. And by partnerships, we also include the entire ecosystem of payments, from the startups and local payment providers to the alternative payment methods and the banks locally and internationally.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of specific partnerships, we are evaluating a few but are not at the moment able to disclose, but I can tell you that we will be working with all the relevant players in the region. So far, we\u2019ve established connections with payment providers and provide consumers with bank transfer, card processing and USSD options here in Nigeria. We have in Kenya, M-PESA, and South Africa, Ozow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interesting. Talking about consumers, what immediate ways are they adopting EBANX?<\/b><\/p>\n

Wiza<\/b>:<\/strong> There is an appetite for global services in markets like Nigeria, for example, if you look at the space of virtual cards, which wasn\u2019t a thing before but has popped up within the last three to four years, as more Nigerians demand dollar cards for international payments. But many would prefer to pay with a simple naira bank transfer.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of the work we\u2019ll be doing is to make it easier for people to pay with the most familiar methods, for instance, local cards, so that they may not have to rely on an external or U.S.-issued card to make international payments. In Nigeria, bank transfers are big; Ozow in South Africa is similar but employs an EFT solution; there\u2019s mobile money in Kenya. So I think they\u2019re obvious signs that there is already demand, and if you look at that demand, combined with the growth rates, I think the story tells itself. With global merchants also trying to see high acceptance rates from payment methods in the region, we are finding a natural fit within that evolving demand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which global merchants are currently processing payments with EBANX from African customers? And which verticals do they operate in?<\/b><\/p>\n

Wiza<\/b>:<\/strong> There are transacting merchants in all three countries, although we can\u2019t specify. But the most significant impact is that consumers will likely see more choices and some exciting merchants lined up to go live quite soon. For some of these merchants, it\u2019ll be their first time doing alternative payment methods in some of the biggest markets, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have merchants accelerating and growing in e-commerce, SaaS and gaming. We\u2019re excited about all three verticals. But I think gaming will take off massively. We\u2019ve already seen several publishing houses starting to support gaming as a vertical. We\u2019ve seen investment in this space, for example, Carry1st and when I look at the numbers from published sources, there is an evident upward trend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think we\u2019re well-positioned to take advantage of those verticals, especially anything digital goods and content where merchants tend to have a higher \u201crisk appetite for those verticals\u201d because they have very low, if not zero, marginal cost of production for additional units.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From your perspective, what challenges do you foresee that an established fintech like EBANX might face in extending its services and operations into a complex market like Africa? And how does your experience help the business?<\/b><\/p>\n

Wiza<\/b>:<\/strong> I think one of the most significant contributions I\u2019m hoping to make, having lived in Kenya and South Africa and spent time in many other African countries, will be centered around market knowledge, especially for the merchants and helping them understand the mental models that consumers have on the continent. Second to that is really in the process of developing those ecosystem partnerships and establishing the brand look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding specific challenges, the fact of the matter is that EBANX doesn\u2019t have a reputation for operating in Africa because we\u2019re setting up for the first time. For us, establishing that degree of trust and credibility that we\u2019ve been able to do for most of Latin America in Africa will be a journey and won\u2019t happen overnight. Still, we\u2019re counting on the expertise that we\u2019ve been able to develop in that region.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many other considerations, especially on the operational front, when dealing with fragmented markets and economies. The internal tooling I\u2019ve seen at EBANX is quite impressive. I can imagine how that can be applied to this local landscape to make it cheaper and faster for merchants to adopt various payment methods. I think this is important because it starts unlocking Africa\u2019s viability as a target market for some of these brands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Africa is a big economy but not so much in the global context. When you look at some massive businesses with customers in Africa, they cannot set up infrastructure and payments to serve locally. So if we can simplify that process for them, it starts to make it a lot easier for them to begin to think about the business case for the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, what\u2019s being projected is that EBANX is here to stay and the company isn\u2019t just testing the waters with Africa. However, are there plans to set up a team on the continent? If yes, what would that look like?<\/b><\/p>\n

Paula<\/b>:<\/strong> The short answer is yes, we have plans to build a sustainable and long-term team across the continent where we\u2019ve been evaluating which region takes the product, partnership, and sales teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

There will be the right moment for us to do that. We are already a global company with teams operating and based in 20 countries in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia. We have been building global teams and are ready to do the same thing in Africa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are beyond the testing phase because we are live and operating. We are already bringing our top-notch merchants to the region, and we wouldn\u2019t be doing that if we were testing. So it\u2019s real and concrete. So the short answer to your question is yes, we plan to add teams in Africa and carefully evaluate where they\u2019ll be among those 11 countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What will success in Africa look like for EBANX in the next five years?<\/b><\/p>\n

Paula:<\/b> We aim to be the most relevant partner to our merchants operating globally and targeting Africa. Success will be about how many new customers and businesses we will be able to provide to them; also, as in the access we give to millions of consumers and the alternative payments we onboard on our platform. There is another aspect that I think is deepening financial inclusion. In Latin America, we have been able to further financial inclusion, especially in Brazil, and we believe we can do that in Africa with our services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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