Business journalist
Dar es Salaam. Nala, a Tanzanian fintech company is set to invest $1million (about Sh2.3 billion) to support innovation and create new jobs.
This comes after the company secured a payment service provider
license from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).
“Securing the license is a tangible fruit of working closely
alongside the Central Bank to complete the appropriate steps to receive their
license as a payment service provider,” Nala’s founder and CEO Benjamin
Fernandes said in a statement.
He added: This is a major milestone as it enables development of a
host of new offerings such as business payments, merchant’s services and
outbound payments from Tanzania as well as direct integration with local banks
and telcos.
The license which was secured on Monday, was awarded as part of
the ongoing initiatives and efforts of President Samia Suluhu Hassan to empower
young people and to generally foster an environment that makes it simple for
businesses like Nala to invest in the country.
Mr Fernandes said two of Nala’s biggest goals in the last year
have been enabling direct integration to banks and telcos and tackling the
challenges that businesses face in moving money across borders.
“With this new license in hand, Nala is making a major commitment
to invest $1m to build our most ambitious projects ever in our home market of
Tanzania,” he asserted.
Despite the many options for sending money to Africa from abroad,
the continent continues to be the most expensive place to send money to.
The World Bank estimates average transfer fees to Africa at
approximate nine percent.
Further, many existing options include hidden fees that make
it hard to discern the true cost of sending money.
“Nala is working towards changing the paradigm of financial tools
for Africans by providing fair and transparent services to empower people with
control over their finances,” said Mr Fernandes.
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