Tolulope Osho, Yusuf Yakubu, and Adewale Afolabi, all Nigerians, are the founders of Pesa, a remittance fintech company. The trio established the startup after their experiences with informal remittance channels, which they used to avoid high fees after relocating to Canada in 2017. They found that traditional remittance services were costly and unreliable, often forcing people to use unsafe methods like WhatsApp groups. Recognizing the importance of remittances for African households, they set out to create a solution, leading to the creation of Pesa.
Initially focused on the Canada-to-Africa remittance market, Pesa is now expanding its global reach, according to TechCrunch. Osho, the startup’s CEO, shared that the goal is to provide users with the “most secure and fastest way possible” to send money and to “remove borders around money.”
Pesa functions as a multi-currency wallet that enables users to send, receive, and hold multiple currencies. Currently, the platform supports six currencies.
Osho explained, “The way we’re looking at remittance is that you should keep on transacting when you move to a new country. If I leave Nigeria for Canada, there shouldn’t be any sort of break in transmission with respect to how I view financial services. I should be able to transact back at home like I really never left.”
“With our multi-currency wallet, it means that as you transition between these countries (Nigeria, Canada, the E.U., U.S., U.K., and Ghana), you’re able to take your money with you as if it’s in your wallet,” he added.
Osho and his team are currently working on obtaining licenses for a U.S. rollout and have recently launched in 27 European Union countries, according to TechCrunch. In the UK, they are operating through a partnership while pursuing an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. This license will enable Pesa to function with full banking capabilities, offer more affordable services, and issue and hold e-money on behalf of customers.
To date, Pesa has processed over a million transactions valued at $380 million and has attracted 60,000 users, with 30 percent actively using the platform.
Globally, remittance flows have increased by 1.6 percent, from $843 billion in 2022 to $857 billion in 2023, and are projected to grow at a higher rate of 3 percent in 2024, according to a report. Pesa aims to make a significant impact in the remittance market as demand for fast, cost-effective, and secure cross-border services continues to rise.
