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For several decades,
the African continent has been bedeviled with low intra-trade volumes when
compared to other parts of the world and this has consequently hampered the
growth of the African economy. To address this challenge, African countries
came together to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to increase,
strengthen and deepen intra-trade among Africa countries.
The
establishment of the AfCFTA created the opportunity for a single market for the
trade of goods and services on the continent, thereby increasing the level of
intra-trade. The
enactment of AfCFTA is expected to birth the largest free trade area in the
world measured by the number of countries participating, potentially connecting
1.3 billion people across 55 countries.
Financial experts
believe that the establishment of AfCFTA has created a window of opportunities
for financial institutions to close the gap of financially excluded persons and
design cross-border financial products that will avail customers seamless and
safe financial services.
Consistent with
its aspirations to build a prosperous African economy and make payment one less
thing to worry about in Africa, Africa’s leading integrated payments and
digital commerce company, Interswitch
has introduced a plethora of innovative products and solutions designed to
transform the African economy as well as boost the continent’s digital payment
ecosystem.
The firm made
this known during its first breakfast session in Sierra Leone where it hosted
stakeholders and customers to a robust and insightful session designed to help Sierra
Leonean businesses thrive. The firm organized the event to discuss how African
businesses can leverage digital payments to unlock endless opportunities and
drive growth in the financial industry.
Speaking at the breakfast
session, Olubunmi Aina, Group Head Sales, Payment Processing and Switching
(Interswitch Purepay), said the firm is committed to building a prosperous
African economy by designing innovative cross-border payment products and
solutions that will enable the growth of businesses in Sierra Leone and beyond.
He said “For the
last two decades, we have consistently designed products that address financial
issues within the payment ecosystem. We equally have been facilitating payment,
building infrastructure, and providing world-class technologies and support
that aid financial institutions to deliver top-notch services to their
customers.
He further said,
“We are here in Sierra Leone to replicate the successes we have attained in
other parts of Africa by providing the Sierra Leone market with secure and safe
digital payments products to further drive growth and profitability for
businesses.”
Reiterating
experts’ opinion that without a functional and effective payment system, Africa
will not be able to facilitate international and regional trade, Interswitch
introduced five products to the august audience at the breakfast session. The
products; Postilion Retail Payment, Interswitch Banking-as-a- Service;
Interswitch Payment-as-a-Service; Agency Banking and Card Fusion are designed
to address prevailing issues within the ecosystem and offer; protection against
digital payment fraud, effective value financing tools for lenders, seamless
integration to newer payment channels and enhance
business development.
While the
products are targeted at commercial banks, microfinance banks, fintechs, other financial
institutions, and their customers, they will essentially improve
the digital payment solutions that financial institutions offer to their
customers.
To demonstrate
the ease of onboarding, participants at the session were onboarded onto the
company’s products, thereby enabling them to rapidly
integrate newer payment channels with intuitive and flexible technologies.
Beyond the benefits the products
avail customers, the firm organised the breakfast session in Sierra Leone to
bring key players in the financial industry together with the ultimate goal of deepening the growth of digital payment in
the country.
Aina noted that Interswitch is committed to the
advancement of digital payments in Africa and will continue to drive
cross-border payments, financial inclusion and payment interoperability through
its innovative products and solutions.
If Africa is to actualize the expected domestic e-payments revenues
growth of about approximately 20 percent per year, reaching around $40 billion by 2025, it is imperative that the players within the ecosystem advance digital
payment on the continent and lower the cost of cross-border payments.
Interswitch, as Africa’s leading digital payment company has taken on
the challenge and is ensuring that critical markets across Africa such as
Sierra Leone are provided with alternative payment methods with the
introduction of its products. The technology company on the strength of its
technical capabilities, is providing payment infrastructure to financial
institutions to reduce friction and boost integration. Its innovative products
are ensuring that the rapidly evolving consumer payment needs are consistently met
and even surpassed.
Interswitch is not just a proponent of seamless and convenient payment
solutions, the firm has for 20 years consistently been leveraging technology to
drive growth and prosperity for Africans, across Africa.
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