Introduction
Ask anyone who regularly sends or receives money across Africa, and you’ll likely hear the same frustrations: transfers that take days instead of minutes, high transaction fees, multiple intermediaries, and financial services that often fail to reach the people who need them most.
Blockchain technology promised to change that. Stablecoins, in particular, have enabled the near-instantaneous transfer of value across borders at a fraction of the cost of traditional remittance channels. Yet for millions of Africans, one major challenge remains. Receiving digital assets is only half the journey. The harder part is converting those assets into money that can be spent at local shops, withdrawn through mobile money, or deposited into a bank account.
That gap between blockchain networks and everyday payment systems is where Kotani Pay has built its business.
Founded in Kenya in 2020, Kotani Pay develops payment infrastructure that connects blockchain protocols, digital asset platforms, and decentralised applications with local payment channels across Africa. Rather than building another cryptocurrency exchange or digital wallet for traders, the company focuses on something less visible but arguably more important: helping businesses move seamlessly between stablecoins and local currencies through infrastructure that works with existing financial systems.
Its mission reflects a practical view of blockchain adoption. Instead of expecting users to understand wallets, private keys, or decentralised finance, Kotani Pay is building technology that allows blockchain to operate quietly in the background while people continue using familiar payment methods such as mobile money, bank transfers, and even feature phones.
That approach has attracted attention from investors, development organisations, and blockchain ecosystems looking for practical applications of digital assets. Over the past few years, the company has expanded beyond its initial prototype into a broader payments infrastructure provider serving fintech companies, blockchain platforms, humanitarian organisations, and businesses operating across several African markets.
The story behind Kotani Pay
Kotani Pay was born from a simple observation: blockchain technology was solving one problem while unintentionally creating another.
On one hand, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins made it possible to send money across borders quickly and at relatively low cost. On the other hand, accessing those funds often required smartphones, reliable internet access, bank accounts, and a level of technical knowledge that excluded many people across Africa.
For the founders, this represented a significant barrier to financial inclusion.
The company was established in 2020 by a multidisciplinary team led by Felix Macharia, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, alongside co-founders Samuel Kariuki, Brian Kimotho, and Jonathan Morgan. According to Kotani Pay and the UNICEF Venture Fund, the wider founding team also includes Stephen Kiarie, Keith Makori, and Daniel Kibuga, bringing together experience across software engineering, cybersecurity, finance, product development, and business operations.
Rather than building for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the team focused on people who were largely being left out of the digital economy altogether.
In many African communities, feature phones remain more common than smartphones, internet connectivity can be unreliable, and opening a traditional bank account is still difficult for millions of people. The founders believed blockchain should adapt to these realities instead of expecting users to adapt to the technology.
Their answer was an infrastructure layer capable of connecting blockchain networks with familiar local payment systems, including mobile money services and USSD technology.
One of Kotani Pay’s earliest innovations was a USSD-based interface that enabled users to access blockchain-powered financial services without requiring internet connectivity. By leveraging the same technology many Africans already use for mobile banking and airtime purchases, the company demonstrated that blockchain could reach users who had previously been excluded from the digital financial ecosystem.
That early vision continues to shape the company’s direction today. While Kotani Pay has expanded its products to include stablecoin settlement infrastructure, APIs, on-ramp and off-ramp services, and enterprise payment solutions, its underlying objective has remained remarkably consistent: making digital assets useful in everyday financial life rather than keeping them confined to cryptocurrency exchanges.
In many ways, Kotani Pay’s evolution mirrors the broader evolution of Africa’s blockchain ecosystem itself. The conversation has gradually shifted from speculation and trading toward solving practical problems such as remittances, merchant payments, humanitarian aid distribution, payroll, and financial inclusion. Kotani Pay has positioned itself at the centre of that transition, building the infrastructure that allows blockchain-based value to move into the hands of people who simply want faster, cheaper, and more accessible ways to transact.
What is Kotani Pay?
Kotani Pay is a blockchain payments infrastructure company. Rather than serving consumers directly like a banking app or crypto exchange, it builds the technology that allows businesses, fintech companies, blockchain projects, and organisations to move money between digital assets and local payment systems.
The easiest way to think about Kotani Pay is as a bridge between two financial worlds.
On one side are blockchain networks and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, which have become increasingly popular for cross-border payments because they offer near-instant settlement and relatively low transaction costs. On the other side are the financial tools people use every day across Africa, mobile money wallets, bank accounts, and local payment channels.
Connecting those two worlds is often more difficult than sending the cryptocurrency itself. A business may be able to pay someone in stablecoins within seconds, but if the recipient cannot easily convert those funds into local currency or spend them through familiar channels, the payment loses much of its practical value.
Kotani Pay’s infrastructure is designed to remove that friction.
Instead of asking developers to build separate integrations for every blockchain network, mobile money provider, or banking partner, the company provides APIs and payment infrastructure that simplify the movement of funds between digital assets and local currencies. According to Kotani Pay, this enables businesses to build blockchain-powered payment solutions without having to develop the underlying payment rails themselves.
This infrastructure-first approach means many end users may never even realise they’re interacting with blockchain technology. They simply receive money through a familiar payment channel while the blockchain handles settlement behind the scenes.
How Kotani Pay works
The platform operates by connecting blockchain networks with local financial infrastructure.
Imagine an international company paying contractors across several African countries using stablecoins. Normally, that business would need separate processes to send digital assets, convert them into local currencies, and distribute the funds through banks or mobile money providers.
Kotani Pay brings those steps together.
Through its APIs, businesses can integrate blockchain payments directly into their applications. When a payment is initiated using a supported digital asset, the platform facilitates settlement and enables recipients to cash out through supported local financial channels. This reduces operational complexity while allowing businesses to benefit from blockchain’s speed and efficiency without sacrificing accessibility for recipients.
The company’s infrastructure is particularly focused on stablecoins because their value is generally pegged to fiat currencies, making them more suitable for payments than highly volatile cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also reduce foreign exchange uncertainty, an important consideration for businesses making regular cross-border transactions.
Another distinctive aspect of Kotani Pay’s architecture is that it has been built to serve both internet-connected users and those with limited digital access.
Products and features
Rather than offering a single product, Kotani Pay has developed several complementary services that address different parts of the digital payments ecosystem.
On-ramp and off-ramp infrastructure
One of Kotani Pay’s flagship offerings is its on-ramp and off-ramp infrastructure.
For many users, buying or receiving cryptocurrency is relatively straightforward. Converting those assets into spendable local currency, however, can be considerably more difficult.
Kotani Pay helps solve this problem by enabling businesses to convert between supported digital assets and local currencies through integrated payment channels. This capability is particularly valuable for remittance companies, fintech platforms, humanitarian organisations, and blockchain applications serving users across Africa.
Rather than forcing users to navigate multiple exchanges or payment providers, businesses can integrate a single infrastructure layer into their products.
Stablecoin Settlement Solution
Stablecoins have become one of blockchain’s most practical use cases, especially for international payments.
Kotani Pay’s Stablecoin Settlement Solution enables businesses to settle transactions using supported stablecoins while connecting those transactions to local payment infrastructure. For companies operating across multiple African markets, this can reduce settlement delays and simplify cross-border payment operations.
The emphasis is not on replacing existing financial systems but on making them interoperable with blockchain-based assets.
APIs for developers
Kotani Pay is fundamentally a developer platform.
Its APIs allow fintech companies, decentralised applications (dApps), payment providers, and enterprises to integrate blockchain payment capabilities into their own products without building the infrastructure from scratch.
This significantly lowers the technical barrier to entry for businesses looking to adopt stablecoin payments or blockchain settlement.
Instead of managing multiple integrations across blockchain networks and payment providers, developers can build on a unified infrastructure layer.
USSD and SMS wallet
Perhaps Kotani Pay’s most distinctive innovation is its USSD and SMS wallet.
While much of the blockchain industry assumes users have smartphones and reliable internet access, Kotani Pay recognised that this assumption excludes millions of Africans.
Its USSD interface enables users with basic feature phones to access blockchain-powered financial services without downloading an application or maintaining a constant internet connection. By dialling a USSD code, users can interact with supported services using technology that is already familiar through mobile banking and airtime purchases.
This feature directly reflects the company’s broader philosophy: financial innovation should adapt to local realities rather than expecting local realities to adapt to new technology.
For humanitarian organisations, financial inclusion initiatives, and businesses operating in underserved communities, this capability makes blockchain payments accessible to users who might otherwise be left out of the digital economy.
Funding, partnerships and ecosystem growth
Kotani Pay’s infrastructure-first approach has attracted support from both investors and organisations interested in expanding financial inclusion through blockchain technology.
In September 2023, the company announced a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by P1 Ventures, with participation from investors including DCG/Luno, Flori Ventures, and Alumni Ventures, among others. According to Kotani Pay, the funding was earmarked for expanding its payment infrastructure, growing its engineering team, and entering additional African markets. The investment reflected growing confidence in the role stablecoins could play in modernising cross-border payments across the continent.
The company has also received backing from the UNICEF Venture Fund, which supports startups building open-source technologies that address global development challenges. UNICEF highlighted Kotani Pay’s work in improving access to financial services for underbanked and unbanked communities by combining blockchain infrastructure with technologies such as USSD and mobile money.
Another notable milestone came in 2025 when Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, announced a strategic investment in Kotani Pay. While the financial terms were not disclosed, the investment signalled increasing interest in African payment infrastructure capable of supporting real-world stablecoin adoption. Both companies said they would explore ways to improve access to digital financial services across emerging markets.
Beyond funding, Kotani Pay has continued expanding its network of technology integrations and blockchain ecosystem partnerships, positioning itself as infrastructure that other businesses can build upon rather than a standalone consumer application.
Practical applications
The value of infrastructure is often measured not by how visible it is but by the problems it quietly solves.
For remittance providers, Kotani Pay offers a way to settle international transfers using stablecoins while enabling recipients to cash out through familiar local payment channels.
For fintech companies, their APIs reduce the complexity of integrating blockchain payments into existing products, eliminating the need to build custom payment rails from scratch.
Humanitarian organisations can also benefit from the platform’s infrastructure. In situations where traditional banking infrastructure is limited or unavailable, blockchain-based disbursements combined with local cash-out mechanisms can help distribute financial assistance more efficiently to beneficiaries.
Businesses operating across multiple African markets may also find value in the platform’s settlement infrastructure. Instead of maintaining separate payment systems for different countries, companies can use blockchain as the settlement layer while continuing to pay employees, contractors, or merchants through familiar financial channels.
Perhaps the most distinctive use case, however, remains financial inclusion. By supporting USSD technology, Kotani Pay extends access to blockchain-powered financial services beyond smartphone users, opening the door to communities that are often overlooked in discussions about digital finance.
What Kotani Pay gets right
Kotani Pay’s greatest strength lies in its understanding of the African market.
Rather than importing payment models developed elsewhere, the company has built its infrastructure around technologies that are already deeply embedded across the continent, particularly mobile money and USSD services. This practical approach makes its products more relevant to local realities than solutions designed primarily for markets with widespread banking access.
The company also deserves credit for focusing on infrastructure instead of speculation.
Much of the conversation around blockchain still revolves around trading and investment. Kotani Pay, by contrast, is solving operational problems such as settlement, liquidity, cash-in and cash-out services, and payment interoperability. These may not generate headlines as often as cryptocurrency price movements, but they are essential to making blockchain useful in everyday commerce.
Another advantage is its developer-first model. By providing APIs instead of closed financial products, Kotani Pay enables other businesses to innovate on top of its infrastructure, potentially multiplying its impact across the fintech ecosystem.
Challenges and limitations
Despite its progress, Kotani Pay operates in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive industry.
Across Africa, several companies are working to simplify stablecoin payments, cross-border settlements, and digital asset infrastructure. Exchanges, fintech firms, payment processors, and blockchain startups are all competing to become the preferred gateway between traditional finance and Web3.
Regulatory uncertainty also remains an important consideration. Digital asset regulations continue to evolve across many African countries, and payment infrastructure providers must adapt to changing compliance requirements while maintaining seamless user experiences.
Scaling presents another challenge. Expanding payment infrastructure across multiple jurisdictions requires relationships with banks, mobile money operators, regulators, and local payment providers. Building and maintaining those networks takes time, operational expertise, and significant investment.
Finally, adoption remains the ultimate test. Infrastructure companies often operate behind the scenes, meaning their success depends less on consumer recognition and more on whether developers, businesses, and institutions choose to build on their platforms.
How Kotani Pay compares
Kotani Pay occupies a different position from many well-known African crypto companies.
Platforms such as Yellow Card primarily provide retail users with access to buying, selling, and storing digital assets. Other fintech companies focus on remittances or virtual banking services.
Kotani Pay, however, concentrates on the infrastructure beneath those experiences. Its customers are typically businesses, developers, and organisations looking to integrate blockchain-powered payments into their own products rather than individuals seeking a cryptocurrency trading platform.
That distinction is important. Instead of competing directly for retail users, Kotani Pay is helping build the financial rails that enable other companies to deliver digital payment services.
Final thoughts
For years, discussions about blockchain in Africa have often centred on cryptocurrencies themselves. Increasingly, however, attention is shifting toward the infrastructure that makes those assets useful in everyday life.
Rather than asking businesses or consumers to change how they think about payments, the company is building technology that allows blockchain to fit naturally into existing financial systems. Its combination of stablecoin settlement, local payment integrations, developer APIs, and USSD accessibility demonstrates a clear understanding of the practical challenges facing digital finance across the continent.
The company’s emphasis on inclusion is particularly noteworthy. By designing products that work not only for smartphone users but also for people with basic mobile phones, Kotani Pay broadens access to blockchain-powered financial services in a way that aligns with Africa’s diverse digital landscape.
There is still work to do. Continued expansion, regulatory navigation, and ecosystem growth will determine how widely the platform is adopted in the coming years. Competition is intensifying, and success will depend on execution as much as innovation.
Even so, Kotani Pay has established itself as more than another blockchain startup. It is building the infrastructure that connects decentralised finance with the payment systems millions of Africans already rely on every day.
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