African fintech expansion: why
From MNT-Halan to ZPay, digital pioneers are building a high-value corridor to the Middle East.
As African fintech matures, companies that once focused on domestic markets are now looking to Dubai as a strategic base for MENA and international expansion.
Some key players are already moving. Egyptian fintech giant MNT-Halan recently launched in Dubai with salary-funding products, while Paymob Technologies has expanded into the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman – securing a full UAE Central Bank license last year. Nigeria’s Innovate1Pay runs global operations from Jumeirah, Dubai since 2019. Lagos-based Flutterwave, one of Africa’s first and fastest growing fintech unicorns, will be the latest company to set up shop in the UAE soon after expanding into Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in 2024.
bay dispatch corridors
A key driver of this expansion is the remittance corridor between the Gulf and Africa. Researchers estimate that 3 million to 5 million African expatriates now live and work in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including large Egyptian, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Kenyan, and Ugandan communities. According to the World Bank, global remittances to Africa are set to reach $109 billion in 2024. About a third comes from the GCC, but many transfers are not recorded in national data sets.
Currently, a lot of money still circulates in cash through operators such as Western Union, MoneyGram or Gulf Exchange House, where the cost of sending funds averages between 8% and 9% – one of the highest in the world.
This opens up a clear opportunity for low-cost digital alternatives. A recent Visa study found that nearly two-thirds of UAE residents now prefer digital apps rather than physical locations to send money abroad. The key drivers include ease of use (50%), followed by security, privacy and speed (46%). Cashless solutions are heavily encouraged by most GCC governments to increase compliance, traceability and transparency.
Some companies, like Ghana-based payments company ZPay, which already operates in 25 countries, are gearing up to enter that market and the recent war in the Middle East is not deterring their motivation.
“For us, this is a new chapter. We are eager to make an impact and become the go-to remittance solution in the Gulf,” said Kojo Amofah, Partnership Manager at ZPay. “Many migrant workers want to send money home, and the current instability creates an even greater need that we want to respond to.”
For Zeepay, the UAE is a natural entry point. It is the MENA region’s most mature technology hub and the world’s third-largest remittance sender – sometimes described as a financial “switchboard” for flows to Africa. To take its first steps, the company is already looking for partnerships with digital payments firms based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi that are interested in trying out the African remittance corridor.
“We need to test the appetite. Rather than enter a market where we are not native, we prefer collaboration so that our services can be tried out,” Amofah said. “Once there is a significant level of interest, we can begin to explore creating a physical presence.”
universal money interest
While exploring options in the GCC, Zeepay teams, like many African startups, are also eyeing funding opportunities.
In 2025, African fintechs are set to raise $1.5 billion across 150 deals, according to data from global investment platform Partech Partners.. A growing number of deals involve GCC investors as sovereign wealth funds and family offices from the UAE and Saudi Arabia increase their exposure to African assets. Over the past decade, GCC countries have invested more than $100 billion in the continent.
In 2022, Nigeria’s Moove.io – a mobility fintech that offers car loans and operates a green ride-hailing platform – raised a $30 million private credit sukuk arranged by Franklin Templeton Investments in Dubai. It later opened an office in the United Arab Emirates to oversee its MENA expansion.
Recently, Kenya’s renowned fintech M-Pesa has teamed up with UAE-based ADI Foundation to explore blockchain. The partnership receives significant funding from ADI’s parent company, IHC – a $240 billion behemoth headed by the brother of the UAE President.
future growth market
For Gulf investors, the appeal is straightforward: Africa remains the fastest-growing fintech market globally, with revenues projected to grow thirteenfold to $65 billion by 2030, according to Boston Consulting Group. For now, digital payment instruments still dominate, but the next phase is expected to focus on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance, credit and comprehensive digital banking services.
In the medium-long term, the Gulf-Africa FinTech Corridor is taking shape, with companies growing and capital flowing between the two regions. In the short term, there are some regulatory hurdles and geopolitical challenges ahead. The war in the Middle East could slow Gulf investment for some time as governments prioritize spending money at home.
