Brazilian FinTech Firm Ebanx Is Expanding Into SA, Kenya and Nigeria

Brazilian FinTech company Ebanx is expanding its operations and payments solutions outside Latin America.

The company said in a statement that it has started operations in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria in late August amid soaring demand for payments via mobile phones in recent years.

Ebanx believes Africa is the next big growth frontier for digital payments and the digital market during the 2020s.

Ebanx solutions in the Africa region will contemplate popular local payment methods including:  

In South Africa:

• Instant EFT by OZOW, lets online shoppers access internet banking to make an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) that gets instantly verified. EFT is the second most popular online payment method in South Africa today.

In Kenya: 

• M-Pesa, a mobile banking service that lets users store and transfer money, as well as pay for online shopping through their mobile phones. M-Pesa was introduced in Kenya as an alternative way for the country’s population to have access to financial services.

In Nigeria:

• USSD, a session-based protocol that travels over the GSM signaling channel to query information and trigger services. It enables customers to pay for their e-commerce shopping.
• Bank Transfers, which enable customers to pay for online purchases quickly and easily without needing a credit or debit card. They are one of Nigeria’s leading alternative payment methods because they are very secure and reliable.

“This is the moment for Africa, and it’s quite reminiscent of the Latin American landscape back in 2012 when Ebanx first began its journey by providing global merchants access to sell more  goods and digital services via the internet to Latin Americans through local payment methods,” said João Del Valle, CEO and co-founder of Ebanx.

 

“Africa’s fast-growing digital economy is only in its early days, and it’s projected to grow up and to the right for the next few decades. Together with local players, Ebanxwill be a catalyst to realize the many benefits of a digital economy even faster.”

According to a June 2022 report released by Endeavor with contributions from McKinsey & Company, there’s currently a $115 billion digital economy in the region, the result of a combination of young and digitally savvy population, increasing digital penetration, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When it comes to the digital games market, the Africa region is the fastest-growing one in the world, according to Newzoo. It is currently a $2.6 billion market, scaling 5 times faster than the global average in 2022, and expected to grow at almost 10 percent per year through 2026. The streaming market in Africa, of currently $1.9 billion, is expected to accelerate even faster, at 14 percent per year through 2026.

“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 of Global Payments at EEbanx.

 

“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, drive broader financial inclusion for its population, and provide greater access to a variety of goods and services from global merchants interested in building their market share there.”

According to Endeavor’s June report, “The Inflection Point: Africa’s digital economy is poised to take off,” together with Egypt, the three African countries EBANX is focusing on first (South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria) account for 32 percent of the continent’s population, 51 percent of its GDP, and 73 percent of the startup accelerators active in Africa today. Africa’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2019 was higher than both Europe and Latin America.