Key Takeaways:
- Afriex has raised $10 million in three rounds of funding.ย
- Sequoia Capital China and Dragonfly Capital led the Series A financing, which also included Golden Tree Capital, Stellar Foundation, and Excellent Capital.
Afriex has secured $10 million in startup funding over three rounds. Sequoia Capital China and Dragonfly Capital led the Series A financing, which also included Golden Tree Capital, Stellar Foundation, and Excellent Capital. ย It received a $1.3 million seed round in May of last year.ย
Tope Alabi, Afriex’s co-founder, and CEO wants Afriex to be a safe refuge for Africans’ money. โWe are building this network of connected financial institutions, we have built on-ramps for local Nigerian banks and on-ramps for local currency exchanges. We are building this web3 mesh of financial institutions that could almost become something like the next Visa”, he said.
Afriex has experienced encouraging and rapid growth over the past six months, despite its transaction volume being less than $5 million as compared to major financial remittance companies such as Wise, which transfers on average ยฃ4 billion ($5.2 billion) per month. The consumer base increased by more than fivefold in 2018.
According to the blockchain. news, the Nigerian Ministry of Finance has collaborated with the country’s capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to develop a new regulatory framework to promote blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption.
Afriex, which was created in 2019, is a pioneering platform that allows users to send and receive money to anyone on the earth by utilizing stablecoins to deliver the fastest and cheapest remittance service to over 30 nations. The organization began in Nigeria before extending to other African countries such as Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana.
Nigeria has been a forerunner in the crypto/blockchain field in Africa. In July, their weekly Bitcoin (BTC) transaction volumes topped $1 million, marking substantial growth in the sector alongside Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.
During the Fintech in Nigeria State of Play event, Armstrong Takang, a special adviser in the Finance Ministry, emphasized the importance of a regulated environment in the blockchain space.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials announced in September that they were creating a clear crypto trading regulatory framework to protect investors’ interests and ensure transparency.
Nonetheless, it clarified the situation by emphasizing that the purpose was not to stifle innovation or technology, but rather to set norms that promote ethical practices.
The Nigerian government, through the National Information Technology Development Agency, sees Blockchain technology as a vital step in assisting the country in producing $6 to $10 billion in revenue over the next ten years (NITDA).
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which is in charge of implementing the country’s digital economy policy, stated that the aim could be met because Nigeria has considerable potential in the payment and financial services industries.
Furthermore, the country is considered an African financial technology hotspot (FinTech). Nigeria intends to maintain its position as one of Africa’s crypto and blockchain regulatory hotspots by enacting new crypto and blockchain regulatory standards.