Stripe, an upcoming global leader in payments, has entered Africa to provide ease of access in e-commerce services. The finserv giant has acquired a local company named Paystack to kick off their presence in the region.
Paystack is based in Lagos, and already handles a significant amount of business in Nigeria and Ghana. The company has more than 60,000 connections in the two countries, and already handles half of all transactions in Nigeria. Paystack provides a secure platform for online and offline payments and gives businesses an opportunity to launch new plans and deepen customer relations.
Stripe has found an ideal platform for expansion. In the continent that desperately needs to narrow the gap between its citizens and the internet, Paystack is the perfect investment for creating a firm foundation.
Stripe plans to let Paystack expand its services into more countries in Africa. After this phase, Paystack will be inducted into Stripe’s Global Payments and Treasury Network (GPTN), a platform for global movement of financial resources. The GPTN spans across more than 40 countries currently.
Paystack founder and CEO Shola Akinlade stated the importance of a company like Stripe entering the African marketplace and confirmed his support of this joint venture.
Akinlade also mentioned the nationwide protests in Nigeria, which are calling out the recent incidents of police brutality. He said that the African community was doing everything it could to help the movement and bring peace to the continent.
Stripe’s business is known worldwide, and its network has seeped deep into the global payments infrastructure. The company’s efforts to build special APIs in its payments services would prove to be incredibly helpful in this acquisition. With e-commerce businesses growing in the continent at an astounding rate, Stripe and Paystack have a large market arena to conquer.
