African fin-tech companies are spreading their wings far and wide. This time around, it is the turn of the leading African payment gateway “Innovate 1 Pay” to take the lead forward. The fintech licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria launched its Dubai office, bringing seamless money transfer and payment services to African expatriates in the region. The number of expatriates from Africa is increasing in the Middle East and there are expectations that their number may go up substantially in the coming years on account of the teeming number of the young population there. Many of the young Africans are venturing out in search of jobs, which pay several times higher than what they get in their own countries. Innovate 1 Pay will provide services including international money transfers and wholesale foreign exchange management. The outfit also is an exclusive distributor of foreign currency to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in Northern Nigeria. The fintech has expanded its presence to a total of 56 countries currently.
With the proportion of young population far more than the greying lot, Africa will surpass China and India as a job market by 2040. The recent visa reforms in the UAE, Dubai and other cities in the region have made UAE as an attractive destination for Africans to pursue career advancement and professional fulfillment. Many African corporations have their presence in Dubai and other UAE cities. Also, the UAE is the second-largest investor country in the African region with an investment of US$11billion. Expectations are that the investments would go up considerably in the future.
A vocal supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), UAE feels that it has a major role in contributing to the growth of the region. Afreximbank is targeting over US$40 billion investments and trade proposals at the forthcoming Inter-Africa Trade Fair in Rwanda in September 2020. The UAE logistics and finance groups will be a major stakeholder in the intra-African trade fair. The DP World, a Dubai based logistics company has operations in Senegal, Egypt, Mozambique, Somaliland, Rwanda, and Algeria. DP World recently inked an agreement with Mali for building a logistics platform in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is that country’s first deep seaport.
