SBI Remit and BitPesa Announce Partnership | Improve Remittance and Settlement Infrastructure between Africa and Japan
SBI Remit, the remittance company belonging to SBI, which provides a wide range of financial related services in Japan, revealed that it has formed an alliance with BitPesa, which provides blockchain based payment services in Africa. BitPesa was founded by CEO Elizabeth Rossiello (hereinafter Rossiello) in 2013 with the aim of making settlements between cross-border companies cheaper and more efficient. Currently they are developing services in seven countries including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are growing to allow remittances to 85 countries. Through this partnership, both companies believe that they can promote economic transactions between Japan and Africa by using blockchain technology, eliminating friction in international settlements between two continents, and thus improving efficiency. Rossiello said that Japanese companies are interested in the African market, and suggested that the weak infrastructure that was a barrier to entry, is improving.
“African customers needed a way to make direct payments (to Japanese companies). Interest in Africa is rising, but the lack of an ideal market situation to promote business, as well as a lack of hybrid financial infrastructure made it hard for these companies to enter the market. The partnership with SBI Remit will provide a safe and speedy exchange solution, as Japanese companies will be able to conduct direct transactions with the 8 central developing countries using G20 currencies including the Japanese yen. They will also be able to interact directly with major African banks and mobile accounts.”
Future Initiatives of BitPesa
While there are many fields of interest in Japan and Africa, SBI Remit and BitPesa suggested that they will focus on the fields of Japanese cosmetics, electronic equipment, and secondhand cars in particular. Rossiello, using secondhand cars as an example, noted that people had to convert Kenya’s currency into a G20 currency during online trading, and then convert it again into Japanese yen for payment to Japanese companies, which was a complicated procedure that took time.
“By using SBI Remit’s network, we will remit to SBI Remit and they will be able to settle the payment using the vast network in Japan. In other words, there will be a flow of funds from Africa to Japan.”
In this way, as the settlement infrastructure in Africa and Japan increases, companies that had hesitated to enter Africa until now will have an easier time entering than they previously did. It is expected that the relationship between Africa and Japan will improve in the future. BitPesa has not only opened up the path of economic transactions between Japan and Africa, but has also been approved by the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Spanish Central Bank in the past. In addition, it has also stimulated economic transactions in Europe and Africa. Rossiello suggests that they will continue their efforts to connect the world with Africa in the future.
“We’d like to build a relationship with other regions around the world that still have little relationship with Africa. Promoting the development of the frontier market’s business is our goal.”
