Fincra, a pan-African payments infrastructure firm, and Reap, a global fintech known for blockchain-enabled business accounts, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to transform cross-border trade flows between Africa and Asia.
Under the agreement, the companies will co-develop tools like Card-as-a-Service (CaaS) platforms, programmable spending controls, and payment solutions tailored to African fintechs and SMEs. Reap’s stablecoin infrastructure will merge with Fincra’s regional rails to enable faster, cheaper international transactions.
This marks Reap’s first formal entry into Africa. The partnership aligns Fincra’s 15-country presence with Reap’s ambition to use stablecoin rails for improved cross-border flows.
One of the driving factors is the high cost of sending money from and to Africa. In mid-2024, average remittance fees in Sub-Saharan Africa reached 8.37%, the highest globally. Fincra and Reap aim to reduce costs and lessen reliance on slow, expensive intermediaries by integrating blockchain rails.
Kevin Kang, Reap’s co-founder, explained that stablecoin rails bring speed, reliability, and flexibility, advantages that traditional banking doesn’t always provide. Wole Ayodele, CEO of Fincra, said the collaboration will give African businesses the confidence and flexibility to scale globally.
To support this initiative, Fincra recently secured a Third Party Payments Provider license in South Africa (TPPP), allowing it to process local payments in that key market.
Nigeria is slated as the initial launch market, but both firms plan to extend services to other African countries.
The partnership could become a defining step in Africa’s cross-border payment landscape, especially for SMEs and fintechs that have long faced barriers in accessing global payment infrastructure. If successful, it may bridge the gap between traditional financial networks and blockchain’s promise of faster, borderless value transfer
Read also: Shield raises $5M seed to expand stablecoin payments in Africa
