Cellullant helps digitize payments in Africa

Cellulant a leading Pan-African payments company on a deliberate mission to build a number one payments business in Africa, has commenced the third iteration of its business strategy anchored on consumer payments, internet payments, and marketplace payments says Mr. Munyi Nthiga, General Manager, Cellulant Kenya.

The initiative aimed at fixing Africa’s payment challenges by connecting 700 million mobile users to payments that power their daily lives.

During the recent East Africa CIO100 Symposium and Awards in Naivasha, Kenya, Mr. Nthiga shared insights about the revolution of payment in Africa noting: “Payment transaction in Africa is not a novelty,” adding that a payment infrastructure is a critical pillar in the transformation of this continent in much the same way railways transformed continents in the 19^th century.

The challenges he said, for payments in Africa includes; Fragmentation, Regulation, Competition and Settlement whereas the future he promised to be Platforms, Open Banking/Open API, Open Engagements and Single API for Africa.

Today, Cellulant’s payments platform spans 1 in 10 Africans, with 2.5 million doing monthly transactions while its coverage extends to 50 percent of banks and 17 million unbanked farmers in Africa. It debuted operations in Kenya and Nigeria in 2004 and has grown to operate across 11 African countries, including Zambia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda and a combined team of up to 350 people.