How Misconceptions And Chimeras Ruin Intra-African Remittance Plays

On two separate occasions that were identical in the frustration they served up in 2020, multiple award-winning Nigerian journalist and intrepid relentless sleuth, David Hundeyin, endured what could be described as the financial services equivalent of: “water everywhere, but none to drink.”

With all the boisterous noise and feverish buzz about how Africa’s new-age fintech firms have basically become omnipotent while beating the inflexible incumbents at their own game, Hundeyin didn’t expect the ‘small matter’ of sending money to Kenya to be such a tiresome ordeal.

“I went through the rigmarole myself when I needed to send the equivalent of USD 1 K from Nigeria to Kenya and I discovered after downloading and trialling about 8 of these apps, that they are nothing more than remittance services - Western Union with a sexy app and good marketing,” Hundeyin tells WeeTracker.

He would suffer similar disappointment when he tried to move money from Nigeria to a relative in Ghana later...