Nigerian entrepreneur wants Silicon Valley to fund a future where Africa is included.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji , the cofounder of Flutterwave a payments API that makes it easier for banks and businesses to process payments across Africa, wants to transform how Africans pay by Connecting them to the digital economy.

The 26-year-old entrepreneur founded the payments API that allows consumers to pay for things in their local currency; Flutterwave takes care of integrating banks and payment-service providers into its platform so businesses don’t have to take on the expense and burden.

American investors just poured $10 million of fresh funding into it. This sizable round comes one year after Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan led a $24 million funding round into another Africa-focused startup, Andela.

Andela, also cofounded by Aboyeji, trains and connects African developers to global companies for work.

“It is critical that Africans are able to participate in the digital economy,” Aboyeji told CNN Tech

According to CNN Tech, More than half of global population growth over the next 30 years is expected to occur in Africa, according to a report from the United Nations.

By 2035, the number of Africans joining the working age population is expected to exceed those entering it worldwide, the International Monetary Fund projects. There’s no universal payment method in Africa, and only 3% of Africans reportedly own own having a credit card. Other forms of payments include bank transfers and digital wallets.

These are factors that Aboyeji says Silicon Valley needs to start preparing for now.

Share this

Related posts