Due to complicated compliance regimes that are inappropriate for regional trade corridors, delayed correspondent banking chains, and opaque foreign exchange spreads, African enterprises that transmit money across international boundaries continue to lose significant capital.
Without upfront price transparency, a 1.5% hidden spread on a typical $20,000 supplier payment can cost a business more than N400,000. While stopped transactions leave corporate finance teams stuck with unanswered automated tickets instead of real-time support, settlements often drag on for days, stressing vital vendor relationships.
This conflict arises in the context of sub-Saharan Africa’s ongoing foreign exchange volatility and liquidity issues. Strict foreign exchange rationing in important countries like Nigeria, where commercial banks frequently find it difficult to immediately supply corporate import demand, has exacerbated the wider economic problems.
As a result, while settling cross-border trade invoices, regional companies growing under the African Continental Free Trade Area are increasingly compelled to deal with high transaction costs, exorbitant clearance fees, and difficult multi-currency conversions.
Founded in 2024 by Hammed Afenifere, Olusola Carter, and Bolaji, Oneremit is a cross-border payment platform that has expanded its operational footprint to service over 1,000 firms and execute over $200 million in outbound commercial transactions in an effort to close this structural gap.
Co-founder Olusola Carter outlined the platform’s primary goal in a statement provided to reporters on Friday, pointing out that the continent’s expanding trade aspirations have not been met by the infrastructure currently in place.
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“Running a business in Africa is already hard. Payments shouldn’t be. When we started Oneremit, we kept coming back to one idea: that Africa is part of the global market, but the payment infrastructure available to African businesses hasn’t caught up to that reality. That’s the gap we’re closing,” Carter stated.
Also commenting, co-founder Bolaji explained that the firm relies on collaborative integration with traditional institutions to streamline liquidity flows across borders.
“We’re not trying to replace the banks or the correspondent networks. We’re working with them, a network of international providers, banks, and partners we’ve built relationships with over time, so that our customers don’t have to think about any of it. They send a payment; we handle the routing,” he said.
According to the company, its operational framework combines compliance-first infrastructure with a human concierge service model. It noted that strategic partnerships with international payment firms, including OwlPay, TerraPay, and Blockradar, continue to facilitate faster settlement times, wider corridor coverage, and enhanced transaction monitoring.
The platform currently maintains regulatory licences in Canada, the United States, and Nigeria, with licensing approvals underway in the United Kingdom, Ghana, and Tanzania as part of its plan to expand further into European and pan-African markets.
