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Cross-border payments for East & West Africa

Pay like you're home, wherever you land.

Wakala lets people move money between Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Zanzibar and Nigeria in their own local currency — no USD detour, no guessing rate, no multi-day wait.

WAKALA direct rail
Bank-grade encryption in transit & at rest
Built for local regulator compliance in every market
Full KYC / AML on every account
Real-time settlement across the network
The problem

Cross-border payments in Africa still route through someone else's currency.

Every transfer between neighbouring markets is typically priced, held and cleared in US dollars first — adding fees, delay and a rate nobody controls, even when both sides just want their own money to move.

0%

Typical cost to send money within Sub-Saharan Africa today, well above the UN's 3% target.

0d

Common settlement time when a transfer is cleared through an intermediary currency.

0×

Local currencies Wakala connects directly on one rail at launch — TZS, RWF, KES, ZNZ, NGN.

How Wakala works

One account. Your own currency. Every step in between removed.

01 — Fund

Load your wallet in local currency

Top up in shillings, francs or naira through mobile money, bank transfer or a verified Wakala agent near you — the same way you already pay for everything else.

02 — Convert

Cross the border on one direct rail

Wakala prices your transfer straight between the two local currencies, at a rate you see before you confirm — never routed through the dollar.

03 — Spend or receive

Money lands ready to use

The recipient gets local currency in their own Wakala wallet, ready to spend, withdraw through an agent, or send onward — usually in minutes.

Where we operate

Five markets, one network, at launch.

Wakala is building market-by-market, in partnership with licensed local financial institutions and a network of trusted agents — the modern-day wakala the name is borrowed from.

Tanzania
TZS · Tanzanian Shilling
In development
Kenya
KES · Kenyan Shilling
In development
Rwanda
RWF · Rwandan Franc
In development
Zanzibar
TZS · Zanzibar corridor
In development
Nigeria
NGN · Nigerian Naira
In development
Coming soon on iOS & Android

Your wallet, your eSIM, one app.

The Wakala app carries your local-currency wallet across every market we serve — and drops a built-in eSIM straight onto your phone, so you land connected before you've even found a taxi.

  • Hold and switch between TZS, KES, RWF and NGN in one wallet
  • Built-in eSIM activates mobile data the moment you cross a border
  • Send to a phone number, agent, or Wakala tag — no bank details needed
  • Rate shown up front, before you ever confirm a transfer
Coming soon
App Store
Coming soon
Google Play
9:41WAKALA
Wallet balance
124,300 TZS
Send
Convert
To Amina · NairobiKES · agent cash-out
−18,400
From Chidi · LagosNGN → TZS, direct
+62,000
To Eric · KigaliRWF · instant
−9,750
eSIM active
For investors

Building the local-currency rail underneath Africa's fastest-growing corridors.

  • 01

    Mobile money is the default, not the alternative

    Across our five launch markets, mobile money is already the primary way most people move day-to-day money — Wakala meets people on rails they already trust.

  • 02

    Intra-African trade and travel are accelerating

    The African Continental Free Trade Area is lowering barriers to trade between exactly the markets Wakala connects first — demand for direct local-currency settlement is growing ahead of the infrastructure to support it.

  • 03

    Distribution through people, not just an app

    Our agent network — the "wakala" the company is named for — gives us cash-in, cash-out and trust in communities a purely digital app can't reach alone.

  • 04

    The app and eSIM extend the same wallet

    Connectivity is bundled into the same product, deepening daily usage and giving Wakala a second, defensible revenue line beyond FX.

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