Africa: Africa-Focused Fintech Zazuu Raises $2m to Scale Its Cross-Border Payment Marketplace

The remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade have been on an upward trajectory since 2020; last year, it increased by more than 6% to $45 billion. However, the steady rise of remittance inflows to the region hasn’t made this activity cheaper.

According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send and receive money; sending $200 costs an average of 8% in fees compared to a global average of about 6%.

Analysts from the World Bank’s Remittance Prices Worldwide say a factor that affects these rates is transparency among remittance providers.

According to the initiative, a lack of transparency around rates and fees reduces competition as consumers continue to use incumbents because “they are not aware of and cannot compare services, fees, and speed of their existing remittance service against other products.

” One way to solve this would be to make an aggregator of cross-border and remittance platforms. Zazuu, a U.K.-based and Africa-focused fintech that does precisely this by offering customers various remittance options, is announcing that it has raised $2 million in a new venture round.