Tanzanian Fintech Raises $10 Million, Plans to Enter 12 More African Countries

A Tanzanian fintech startup revealed it has raised $10 million in its latest funding round and is planning to use the funds to finance an expansion into other African countries.

The Tanzanian fintech behind an app that enables payments from the U.K. to Africa, Nala, recently revealed it raised $10 million in a funding round backed by Amplo, Accel, and Bessemer Partners. So-called angel investors that participated in this round include the founder of Robinhood, Vladimir Tenev, and Jonas Huckestein, CTO at Monzo.

According to a report published by Fintechnews Africa, the fintech’s app already enables payments from the U.K. to five African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana. However, following the latest fundraise, Nala will have added twelve more African countries by the end of 2022, according to the report.

The publication also revealed that Nala has just begun piloting a version of its app suited for business people that wish to make payments to Africa. In addition to this new feature, the app already comes embedded with a multi-currency accounts function which allows users in the diaspora to store local African currencies when abroad, the report said.

Meanwhile, in his comments following the fundraise, Nala co-founder and CEO, Benjamin Fernandes, explained why his firm chose to build this app. He said:

“Payments in Africa are 1% build. It’s 2022 and Africa’s still the most expensive place in the world to send money in and out of, until this changes we are limited by the opportunities of trade across the continent. Over the next 5 years, while logistics gets better, more places around the world are going to trade in and out of Africa, we are positioning ourselves to be at the forefront of this change.”

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