E-Financial
Africans Embrace Bitcoin to Send Money Abroad
Developing countries from Africa and Asia are rapidly adopting Bitcoin in a bid to circumvent steep bank charges when sending money abroad.
This is according to Bitcoin payment processor Bitwala which notes that when sending money abroad, local banks’ models favour corporate profit over people’s need and their own convenience over fast speeds.
Founded in 2012, Germany-based start-up Bitwala allows users to transfer euros over the Single Euro Payments Area payments using Bitcoin. Users must first download a Bitcoin wallet.
The start-up says for the majority of businesses and individuals in the developing world, foreign exchange remains a critical inhibitor to their success or sometimes access to basic food and medicine.
“While our early adopters have come from Europe and North America, more recently we have seen a steep adoption rate among users sending money to and from developing countries on the African and Asian continents,” says Jörg von Minkcwitz, CEO of Bitwala.
Transferring cash via a bank or money transfer operators like Western Union or MoneyGram can be costly. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the average charge to transfer $200 to Africa using traditional money transfer services is 12%.
Bitwala says in total, the number of sign-ups from developing countries is coming closer to those in the US and EU. Taken together, users from developing countries form approximately 30% of Bitwala’s new sign-ups globally.
“Our daily Web site visits also reflect this growing trend. Bitcoin users in North African countries are a growing proportion of Bitwala’s user base, making up 4.4% of visitors, up from historically 2% and surpassing Switzerland,” says Von Minkcwitz.
“Banks charge a lot of fees and manipulate currency exchange rates to their advantage, resulting in a huge cost to customers all over the world,” he notes.
According to Bitwala, at a cost of $4 billion per year, international transfers to Africa are the most expensive in the world. Furthermore, it notes, online and offline businesses continue to pay a steep price for transferring money abroad or even domestically as the majority of banks charge between 10%-19% on any transfers to, from and within African countries.
The start-up points out that while transferring money to South East Asia is cheaper than it is to Africa, banks and intermediaries doing so charge high enough fees that take away a significant amount of people’s hard-earned money.
“Let’s consider the case of Jane, a hypothetical expat in Berlin who relies on banks and money transfer services to support her parents living in Beijing. She sends €500 to them regularly each month. As a customer of one of the European leading banks, it costs her a total of €47.7 each month to make that transfer. Over a year, this number rises to more than €570. If she were sending €2 500 per month – it would cost Jane a total of €1 441 per year just in transfer fees,” Von Minkcwitz says.
He explains the recently leaked document from Santander, a major Spanish banking group, confirms the dangers of using banks.
In 2016, the bank made €585 million solely from international money transfers, making up 10% of all of its revenue. In addition to transfer fees, the bank also made another killing by controlling its foreign currency exchange which helped it earn €290 million, Von Minkcwitz says.
“Perhaps the most shocking part is that 80% of all global money transfers are still conducted via banks and conventional monetary transfer channels. Bitcoin offers a much more efficient method of sending money abroad. This is done by shortening the time involved in trade settlements and securing the best exchange rate.
“Most importantly, the strength of Bitcoin and the blockchain technology it relies on is that it allows you to send money across borders without paying the steep fees charged by traditional gatekeepers like Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria and others.”
Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, a premier economic think-tank and financial advisory firm, led by Bismarck Rewane, has reported that Nigerians have accumulated an estimated $59 billion in cryptocurrency holdings.
Bismarck Rewane
According to data released by the firm highlights the country’s emergence as one of Africa’s and the world’s major players in digital assets.
The earlier disclosure reflects a profound shift in Nigeria’s financial landscape.
In Africa’s largest economy, crypto has moved from a fringe activity to a mainstream tool amid persistent inflation and naira volatility.
Citizens and businesses are increasingly turning to dollar-pegged stablecoins and decentralised platforms, building a parallel financial system with significant economic influence.
Nigeria continues to rank among global leaders in adoption.
According to Chainalysis’ 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, the country placed second worldwide for grassroots adoption, driven by widespread use in everyday transactions and cross-border commerce.
Despite these impressive statistics, a notable contradiction remains in public perception.
While stocks, real estate, mutual funds, and foreign currency are openly discussed, many Nigerians still approach cryptocurrency with caution, often downplaying their involvement.
Crypto assets, or cryptocurrencies, are digital assets utilizing cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, and distributed ledger technologies (like blockchains) to secure, verify, and record transactions.
Unlike traditional fiat currencies issued by central banks, these assets operate without central intermediaries, functioning globally as alternative stores of value or transactional mediums.
Flutterwave, an African-founded payments technology company, has partnered with Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service, to enable faster international money transfers into Nigeria.
The partnership connects Xoom’s global money transfer network with Flutterwave’s local payout infrastructure, allowing customers worldwide to send funds directly to Nigerian bank accounts with local settlement in naira.
Under the arrangement, Flutterwave converts Xoom transfers and settles them locally, enabling recipients to receive funds directly into accounts held at Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank and other participating banks.
Nigeria is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest remittance recipients, receiving more than $20 billion in personal remittances in 2024. However, international payments have historically been affected by foreign exchange constraints and settlement delays.
Flutterwave said the partnership aims to address those challenges by combining Xoom’s international reach with its local compliance capabilities and banking partnerships to simplify cross-border money transfers into Nigeria.
Xoom enables consumers to send money, pay bills and top up mobile phones in approximately 160 markets worldwide as part of PayPal’s global payments ecosystem.
“Millions of Nigerians rely on money from abroad to support everyday needs, whether it’s families receiving help from loved ones, freelancers getting paid for their work, or individuals earning income from the global economy,” said Olugbenga Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
“This partnership makes it easier and more reliable for people in Nigeria to receive funds and stay connected to opportunities beyond borders.”
The collaboration expands Flutterwave’s cross-border payments infrastructure and strengthens access to international remittance services in one of Africa’s largest payments markets.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled plans to make sustainability reporting mandatory for large public interest entities from 2027 as Nigeria moves to align its corporate disclosure framework with global environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting standards.
The phased implementation will begin with voluntary adoption by early adopters and large public interest entities before becoming mandatory in 2027. The requirement will extend to other public interest entities in 2028 and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) by 2030.
Dr Emomotimi Agama, Director-General of the SEC, disclosed this at the 2026 Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) Sustainability and ESG Conference 3.0 in Lagos, themed ‘Building a Sustainable Africa: Integrating Environmental Stewardship, Social Investment, and Strong Governance for a Prosperous Future’.
Agama said Nigeria’s sustainability disclosure regime is being aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework, including IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, which have emerged as the global benchmark for sustainability reporting.
He said that institutional investors increasingly consider ESG performance a key determinant of capital allocation rather than a peripheral corporate responsibility issue, noting that the price of entry is disclosure.
He said the reforms would strengthen investor confidence and position Nigerian businesses to access global capital markets, where sustainability disclosures are becoming an essential investment requirement.
According to him, Nigeria’s capital market has recorded significant expansion, with market capitalisation growing from about N130 trillion to nearly N160 trillion following recent market reforms, while assets under management have surpassed N9 trillion.
To deepen sustainable finance, Agama said the commission was promoting infrastructure, green and municipal bonds, alongside infrastructure-focused investment funds, to mobilise long-term capital for critical national projects.
He added that the SEC would also encourage investments in the blue economy and support financing for the power sector through green energy bonds, project bonds and public-private investment structures.
The SEC chief cited the recent launch of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Impact Board as another milestone in advancing sustainable finance and urged companies, regulators and investors to move beyond commitments by embedding sustainability into governance, operations and investment decisions.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr Chizor Malize, said sustainability and ESG had evolved from compliance issues to core drivers of business competitiveness, investment decisions and economic development.
She said the conference, now in its third edition since 2024, had become a leading platform for advancing sustainability discourse in Africa, adding that this year’s gathering was designed to move stakeholders “from conversation to commitment”.
Chairman of the FITC Advisory Board, Prof Fabian Ajogwu, described governance as the foundation of sustainable development, arguing that Africa must become a standard-setter rather than merely adopting frameworks developed elsewhere.
Although Africa contributes less than four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, he said, the continent bears a disproportionate share of climate-related impacts, including worsening floods and increasingly erratic weather patterns.
Ajogwu also cited estimates that poor governance costs Africa between $88 billion and $90 billion annually, while highlighting technology-driven agricultural initiatives, including a partnership involving Morocco’s OCP Group and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), as examples of practical models that should be replicated across the continent.
Delivering the keynote address, Chairman of the MTN Nigeria Foundation, Mosun Belo-Olusoga, said the debate over the relevance of sustainability and ESG had ended, with the real challenge now centred on implementation.
She observed that global investors increasingly evaluate businesses on governance quality, resilience and their ability to manage environmental and social risks, in addition to profitability.
Belo-Olusoga noted that despite contributing the least to global carbon emissions, Africa possesses vast arable land, abundant renewable energy resources and critical minerals required for the global energy transition.
She identified four leadership priorities for the continent: shifting from short-term performance to long-term value creation, replacing corporate philanthropy with strategic social investment, moving beyond regulatory compliance to responsible leadership, and strengthening collaboration among governments, businesses and development partners.
She also outlined five priorities for Africa’s ESG agenda over the next decade, including embedding sustainability into corporate strategy and governance, investing in human capital, mobilising indigenous capital through instruments such as green bonds and pension funds, strengthening institutional accountability, and fostering partnerships in renewable energy, digital technology and climate-smart agriculture.
“The defining challenge before Africa is not a shortage of vision; it is execution,” Belo-Olusoga said, urging governments to create enabling policies, businesses to integrate ESG into enterprise risk management, and financial institutions to develop innovative financing mechanisms that support a green and inclusive economy.
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