African Fintech Extends Services to UAE Market
James Emejo
An African payment gateway, Innovate 1 Pay has announced its entry into Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), bringing easy and seamless money transfer and payment services to African expatriates in the region.
Innovate 1 Pay is licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide services including international money transfers and wholesale foreign exchange management, as well as being the exclusive distributor of foreign currency to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in Northern Nigeria.
Africa is set to surpass China and India as a job market by 2040, and with the recent visa reforms in the UAE, Dubai has emerged as an attractive destination for Africans to pursue career advancement and professional fulfilment.
Innovate 1 Pay’s secure and convenient payment gateway and financial services platform, which integrates seamlessly between Dubai and several African nations, looks set to emerge as the solution to address this expanding market segment and its unmet needs.
Speaking during the inauguration of its office in Dubai, Chairman, Innovate 1 Pay, Mahmood Ahmadu said: “With the maturing of financial markets in Africa, we have expanded our presence to a total of 56 countries currently, and with the promise that the new UAE visa regime holds for African professionals, we believe the prospects for growth in addressing this demographic is very promising indeed.
“The next generation of financial services needs to reflect customer expectations around secure and quick transfer of funds.
“Our relationship with government bodies and comprehensive presence in the African market positions Innovate 1 uniquely in being able to leverage these strengths, and amplify them with the use of appropriate and user friendly technologies.
“The impressive performance of Innovate 1 Pay represents the tremendous room for growth and expansion that exists at the intersection of increasing demand, market growth and the outreach potential of tech-enabled services.”
He said the company was universally lauded for its efforts to empower financial inclusion at the recent Central Bank Payment Conference in Berlin, which included representatives from the European Commission, the Federal Reserve, Deutsche Bundesbank, Visa, and the Assistant Governor of Australia’s Reserve Bank, among others.
At a forum featuring nearly 200 thought leaders representing a hundred financial organisations and more than 50 central banks from around the world, Innovate 1 Pay created huge interest and stood out among a field of exhibitors that included a stellar lineup of stalwarts, such as Visa and Vocalink Mastercard.
Also felicitated as a recipient of the Euro-Knowledge ‘Most Innovative IT company of the year award’ at the British House of Lords, in April this year, Innovate 1 Pay, he said was gaining global acclaim as a company that reconciles sterling business performance with outstanding social impact.
According to Chief Executive, Innovate 1 Pay Anthony Nwachukwu:”Africa is currently the second fastest growing continent, after Asia, and we are looking at an average GDP growth of 5 per cent across the continent that has lasted a decade now. Africa is home to 40 per cent of the people in the world who lack access to banking services and we at Innovate 1 Pay see our business mission within the context of this larger social goal.”
According to him, the company provides complete, simple, and secure online application and payment processing services to consumers who wish to obtain a visa or passport as well as enables access to secure e-payment solutions that enables applicants to process real-time online payments and transactions.