AZA Finance

Last updated
AZA Finance
FormerlyBitPesa
Company type Private company
Industry Financial services
Founded2013;11 years ago (2013)
FounderElizabeth Rossiello
ProductsWeb-based payment system
Website azafinance.com

AZA Finance is an African financial company specializing in web-based payments and remittances into and out of Africa. [1] [2] It has regional offices in Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar, Madrid, and London, as well as South Africa. [3]

Contents

History

In 2013, AZA Finance was initially established as BitPesa by Elizabeth Rossiello [4] and Charlene Chen in Nairobi, Kenya. [5] [6] Amy Ludlum joined a few months later and became a co-founder and CFO. Min-si Wang was one of the first employees and later also became an executive. Early investors included Joseph Mucheru, then the Head of Google Kenya and later the Cabinet Secretary for Information and Communications in Kenya, [7] Digital Currency Group, Blockchain Capital, and Pantera. [8]

AZA Finance is notable for being the first money transfer operator to connect African currencies and mobile money to digital currency technology. [9] The company has since grown into a global payments institution, currently holding payment licenses across multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Uganda, and Nigeria. The company was renamed in 2019 as AZA Finance. [10]

AZA Finance's first acquisition was of Transferzero in Spain in 2018, [11] which was founded by Luis Cambronero. AZA Finance's second acquisition was of Exchange4Free in 2021, which at the time made it the largest non-bank currency broker in Africa. [12]

Operations

The company now operates in over 17 African countries, with physical offices in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, [13] Senegal, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Major non-African currencies supported by AZA Finance include AED, EUR, GBP, JPY, and USD, while African currencies include GHS, KES, MAD, UGX, XAF, NGN, ZAR, ZMW, and XOF. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "AZA Finance Expands in Africa". Bloomberg. 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  2. ↑ Whitehouse, David (2021-10-22). "AZA Finance plans corporate FX, treasury entry into Ethiopia, Egypt". The Africa Report. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  3. ↑ "AZA Finance Expands into South Africa with Acquisition of Exchange4Free". TechAfrica News. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  4. ↑ Jackson, Tom (2015-03-10). "Could Bitcoin ease the pain of Africa's migrant workforce?". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  5. ↑ Ekwealor, Victor (2019-10-22). "Formerly BitPesa, African currency trading solution startup AZA, raises $15m funding". Techpoint Africa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  6. ↑ Vigna, Paul, "Kenya's BitPesa Launches Beta Test of Remittance Service", WSJ, retrieved 2024-02-15
  7. ↑ Mumo, Muthoki (February 28, 2018). "Mucheru finally sells stake in Bitcoin dealing firm Bitpesa". Business Daily. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  8. ↑ Jackson, Tom (2015-02-10). "BitPesa raises $1.1m for East African expansion". Disrupt Africa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. ↑ "Elizabeth Rosiello". Africa Tech Summit London. 2023-06-11. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  10. ↑ "Bitpesa secures funding; rebrands as AZA Group". Nairobi Garage. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  11. ↑ Jackson, Tom (2018-02-09). "Kenya's BitPesa acquires European money transfer platform". Disrupt Africa. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  12. ↑ Sguazzin, Antony (2021-04-28). "AZA Buys Exchange4Free to Become Biggest Africa Non-Bank FX Firm". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  13. ↑ "AZA Finance appoints Nana Yaw Owusu-Banahene as Regional Head for African Partnerships". GhanaWeb. 2023-08-21. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  14. ↑ "Digital Currency Exchange". AZA Finance. 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
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