Best payment processor in Africa?

[thomasparra]

I need to send payments to multiple suppliers (inviduals, not companies) in Africa (Uganda, Mozambique, DRC, Mauritius etc).

Here is what I tried:

• Paypal: Do not let me pay people in most African countries (country risk, or because my suppliers just created their PayPal account)
  
• Wise: Do not allow me to do a USD or EUR transfer to UGX (Uganda Shillings), despite them mentioning it on their website
  
• Airwallex: Can only send USD through Swift. Probably the safest option but expensive and I do not want the African bank to take a very high FX fee when forcing the conversion from USD to the local currency
  

Should I just use Western Union/Moneygram? Payments are all less than $1,000 each.

 

[Marzio]

With Africa Bitcoin would probably be your best bet.

 

[Martin Everson]

Try

https://www.xe.com
https://www.remitly.com/
https://paysend.com/
https://bemobileafrica.com

There are‍ actually tons of companies that specialize in remittance to Africa. But you need to see⁠ if they make sense financially and reliability wise over MG and WU.

 

[Don]

I would say Moneygram

 

[JackAlabama]

remittance to mpesa for drc and mocambique, cash remittance otherwise moneygram/wu︂
ideally bitcoin or stablecoins if it has to be.

 

[linusAG]

Try vertoFX

 

[thomasparra]

Thanks guys, I will try all these options

 

[Clearsky Network]

You can try Terrapay

 

[happyjohn]

I had no idea there were so many companies in the financial sector involved in‌ handling money transfers to and from Africa.

 

[linusAG]

Because it's the‍ new undeveloped fintech market.
😉

 

[thomasparra]

Not surprising.

High and opaque banking fees
Many different juridictions across the continent
Restrictions of most financial institutions‍ to send payments to non-African countries
Senders and receivers are generally cash reliant: Western Union⁠ built its brand this way

So far, my experience working with individuals in Africa has⁤ been stellar and I am looking to expand further into the region

 

[Martin Everson]

Even Revolut will allow you to send to all those countries OP mentioned except Uganda.‌ Africa is a big remittance market and a money spinner that is growing.

https://afridigest.com/wp-content/uploads/Twitter-post-141-1.png

 

[thomasparra]

Wise is stating the same on its website including in⁠ the transfer simulator but in reality it does not work for the few countries I⁤ have tried to send money to. Maybe it works for consumer, not business accounts.

 

[Martin Everson]

Oh your‌ sending from your business account to personal accounts in Africa and not personal to personal?‍

 

[thomasparra]

Yes correct.

So far I have stuck‍ with SWIFT payments, and I am bearing the $25-30 transfer fee which is fine..

I will actually try out Western Union or Money Gram, the exchange rate and fees seem⁠ OK for small payments and they cover most/all African countries.

 

[Cloudbanck]

I live in Africa and get paid to my US LLC. To get funds locally‌ - which is a little bit different use case than OP admittedly - I send‍ from the US LLC to personal fintech accounts in Europe, and then:
-peer to peer⁠ with westerners here who need to get money out. I send EUR to them, get⁤ local currency in cash or mobile money.
-send to a crypto exchange, buy BTC, send⁣ BTC to local bitcoiner who saves monthly in BTC as he understandably doesnt trust the⁢ local currency
-send directly to the debit card of a local fintech, more expensive than︀ above but instantaneous.