EBANX, an international payments platform is expanding its operations to eight more African countries and two in Latin America, connecting global companies to nearly 1 billion digital consumers
This strategic expansion follows EBANX’s entry into the African market in September 2022, when it established operations in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
The new countries added to the fintech ecosystem are Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Also the company expanded its expansion throughout Latin America and the Carribbean.
The addition includes the Bahamas and Jamaica to its portfolio, reaching 17 Latin American countries, and 29 worldwide, including the recent addition of India.
“This expansion reinforces our global reach and local depth, our commitment to rising markets and our merchants, and EBANX’s mission to create access,” said Paula Bellizia, President of Global Payments at EBANX.
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“Through technology and local payments, we now connect nearly 1 billion people that are digital buyers from 29 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, three rapidly growing digital regions, to the world’s largest brands,” said Bellizia.
EBANX begins its operations in these countries, in addition to Ivory Coast and Senegal, with mobile money, connecting global merchants to this local payment method.
In Egypt and Morocco, the fintech starts its operations with cash-based methods, the most commonly used in digital commerce. Egypt, the second-largest economy in Africa, has mobile phone and internet penetration rates above average.
At the same time, 73 percent of Egyptians are unbanked, and only 3 percent of them have a credit card, World Bank Global Findex 2021 data shows.
According to Insider Intelligence data, the African continent holds significant potential for digital commerce growth and it’s expected that the rate of online shoppers in the region will increase by 10 percent annually until 2027 to serve a population that exceeds 1 billion.
World Bank data shows that the high penetration of mobile phones has been the foundation for financial inclusion and digital payments: 83 percent of the population has a mobile subscription, and 75 percent of internet traffic in the region is conducted through mobile phones.
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This reality is driving the adoption of digital payments as 46 percent of African adults have already made at least one digital payment, a significant increase in less than eight years when penetration was only 23 percent, the data said.
“The significant mobile phone penetration, low cost of mobile data, and an acceleration of digital services are also positioning countries like Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, and Zambia among the ‘next digital frontiers of Africa’, to name just a few, that are expected to become the next growth hubs for digital companies,” said Andre Allain, VP of Partnerships and Market Development at EBANX.
