Cross-border payments company, Grey, says African businesses should be able to pay suppliers in other countries without routing transactions through the US dollar.\n<\/p>\n
The company said it had developed direct currency conversion routes to reduce the steps involved in cross-border payments and address challenges with foreign exchange (FX) liquidity.\n<\/p>\n
Grey\u2019s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Idorenyin Obong, said this while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of Moonshot by TechCabal 2026 in Lagos on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n
Grey was the headline sponsor of the two-day technology conference, held at the National Theatre, Lagos, on October 28 and 29, which brought together technology companies, investors, entrepreneurs and other industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Obong identified payment reliability and FX liquidity as major challenges businesses face when making international transactions.\n<\/p>\n
He explained that a Nigerian business paying a supplier in Kenya might have to convert naira into US dollars before exchanging it for Kenyan shillings, adding another step to the transaction.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMost times, if you\u2019re trading within Africa, there\u2019s always some form of intermediary currency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve built out these currency pairs, these exotic currency pairs, such that you never have to go in between to the USD,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Grey, its payment infrastructure allows customers in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana to collect and send money, with liquidity arrangements supporting transactions in multiple currencies.\n<\/p>\n
The company said the infrastructure enables real-time settlement in several supported currencies.\n<\/p>\n
Obong also identified payment delays as another challenge for businesses, saying uncertainty over delivery times could disrupt procurement and trading relationships.\n<\/p>\n
He said Grey provides estimated payment delivery times and had invested in infrastructure to improve the reliability of its international payouts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent the last six years building the infrastructure to ensure that we\u2019re delivering at the last mile at 99.99% to our customers,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
During the briefing, Obong disclosed that Grey had processed more than 40 million transactions and nearly $`5bn in payments since its inception.<\/p>\n
Grey Business, its multi-currency platform for startups and small businesses, has processed nearly `$100m since launching in February, according to the company. By June, it had processed $61.4m in its first four months, partly driven by demand for stablecoin-based payments.\n<\/p>\n
The company has also expanded payouts to China, allowing businesses to pay suppliers in Chinese yuan.\n<\/p>\n
Beyond business payments, Grey is expanding its services for individuals receiving income from abroad.\n<\/p>\n
Obong said the company started in 2020 as a currency exchange service but later introduced foreign currency accounts after discovering that customers struggled to receive international payments.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of our customers were using Grey to receive their foreign salary. And so we decided to build what I would call simply a salary account for these customers,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The company subsequently launched Paycheck, a salary product that allows professionals earning in dollars, pounds and euros to receive and manage their salaries.\n<\/p>\n
Obong said the product integrates with Pouch, Grey\u2019s savings feature, which allows customers to save towards goals such as education, travel and major purchases.<\/p>\n
At the briefing, Grey also faced questions about difficulties some customers encounter when accessing foreign currency accounts and obtaining customer support.\n<\/p>\n
The company said it offers round-the-clock digital assistance and operates a physical office, although it considers online support more effective for directing customer issues to its distributed teams.\n<\/p>\n
Moonshot 2026, organised by TechCabal, brought together stakeholders across Africa\u2019s technology and creative industries to discuss innovation, investment and business opportunities.\n <\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
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