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Colombia’s real-time payment platform, Minka, has officially launched operations in Eastern and Southern Africa. On Tuesday, the company announced its plans to establish a presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia, with further expansions into Mozambique, Zambia, and Malawi in Southern Africa.
Domagoj Rozic, CEO of Minka, commented on the expansion, stating, “Our expansion into Africa is a testament to our continued mission to build more efficient payments infrastructure across the Global South. Low levels of financial inclusion, a heavy reliance on cash, and non-interoperable legacy payment systems are just a few of the issues our team in Latin America has successfully overcome. We believe it is our duty to continue creating solutions that benefit society.”
Minka offers a cloud-based programmable solution that can be tailored by its partners to comply with various regulatory frameworks. The company specializes in building payment networks that facilitate money transfers between participating banks and other financial institutions.
Founded in Bogota, Colombia, in 2016, Minka raised $24 million in a Series A funding round in 2022, with investments from Tiger Global Management, Kaszek Ventures, and the FinTech Collective.
Minka’s initial focus in Eastern and Southern Africa will be on replicating its successful model from Latin America. The company aims to bridge the gaps between banks, financial institutions, central banks, fintechs, and clearing houses through shared and connected ledgers. Minka is optimistic about the similarities in demographics between its home market and the African continent, as well as the rapid growth and competitive nature of the African fintech space.
Minka’s expansion into East Africa follows a trend of Latin American fintech companies entering the African market. In 2022, EBANX launched in 11 African countries, and two years earlier, Uruguay’s dLocal expanded into West Africa and Kenya.
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