Photo: Freepik
For years, sending money back from the diaspora meant scrambling to find a Western Union or MoneyGram outlet, queuing to hand over cash, and paying fees that sometimes swallowed 10% or more of whatever you were sending. As if that was not enough, you had to hope and pray the money arrived before your person needed it. The system was slow and expensive. Then something changed.
A new generation of fintechs sprang up. Some of them were founded by Africans, for Africans. They built apps that send money across continents in minutes, charge next to nothing, and actually understand how mobile money works.
Today, you open an app, enter an amount, tap send, and within minutes, the receiver’s phone buzzes with a credit alert. All these happen from your phone while you are still lounging in your pajamas. The fee is minimal or zero, and the exchange rate is transparent.
Fintech has stepped into the remittance space, and for the African diaspora, this shift is more than convenience. It is empowerment and financial inclusion.
Every year, Africans in the diaspora send billions back home, and many people benefit from receiving this money. In 2023 alone, the World Bank reported that remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa reached $54 billion. A chunk of it sustains families (aka black tax), and others help keep local economies afloat.
In Nigeria alone, an estimated $21 billion, almost 10% of the country’s entire GDP, was sent back to the country from its diaspora in 2024. And with remittances expected to reach $26 billion by 2026, it is clear that international money transfers are more than mere financial transactions. They have a huge influence on both Nigeria’s economy and the everyday lives of the people.
“Can you imagine a world where a Nigerian living abroad can go to any fintech platform to transfer $100 or a $1,000, and that money has a termination on the capital markets? That’s the kind of future that we’re trying to build and to scale into, and it’s something very exciting,” said Temi Popoola, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), highlighting the tremendous impact that technology has had on the Nigerian market.
Here are five fintechs transforming how Africans abroad send money home.
LemFi
This is one of the most talked-about names in the fintech space. Formerly known as Lemonade Finance, it was co-founded by Ridwan Olalere in 2021 to transform how immigrant communities access financial services.
Since its launch, LemFi has been helping diaspora communities in North America and Europe to send money to their families and friends in Africa, Asia, and across the globe at zero fees.
Some of the key destination countries are Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and others.
“When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved. But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome, and expensive, with customers telling us that, in some instances, it is cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than to send it directly to their families back home. By targeting the communities most in need, we’ve built LemFi into the go-to remittance service for one million people, supporting them in building wealth across 20 countries,” Olalere said.
Photo source: Business Post
The mobile application is available on iOS and Android and has been downloaded more than a million times, according to the Play Store data.
How do you get started on Lemfi?
- Download the LemFi app
- Sign up and create your account
- Complete the quick verification process
- Once verified, you can access LemFi’s homepage and all its exciting features, then initiate a transfer.
Transfers via LemFi can be made directly to bank accounts, mobile wallets, or other available options. It is a popular choice for its quick transfers and multi-currency wallet. You will typically send from currencies like GBP, USD, EUR, or CAD to an African currency. Transaction fees are nonexistent for certain destinations and relatively low for others.
TapTap Send
It was founded in 2018 by Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus to tackle the “remittance tax” that siphoned wealth from low‑income households. Taptap Send has become a favourite among Africans in Europe and North America because of its zero‑fee transfers and fast delivery. The platform is live in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, UAE, and across the EU, and its users can send money to over 70 destinations, including Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Mexico, and Brazil, with more launching regularly.
How do you get started on TapTap Send?
- Download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store
- Sign up using your phone number or email, and create a strong password
- Verify your identity with a government ID
- Link a debit card to the account to start transferring money.
Users must be in a supported country and use a valid phone number and payment method to start sending money.
Photo source: TapTap Send
NALA
Founded by Tanzanian entrepreneur Benjamin Fernandes, the payments app allows users in the UK, US, and Europe to send money to over 11 African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, and Côte d’Ivoire.
NALA focuses on transparency, showing exchange rates and fees upfront, and has earned a reputation as one of the best platforms for exchange rates, particularly for East African transfers.
NALA is built by Africans, for Africans, and for markets like Kenya, they have integrated directly with M-Pesa, meaning grandma doesn’t need a bank account, just her phone.
How do you get started on NALA?
- Download the NALA App from App Store or from Google Play Store
- Open the app and follow the simple steps to set up your account. You can use either your personal email or the emails linked to your phone (Apple ID or Gmail)
- Verify your identity to make transactions.
Chipper Cash
Co-founded by Ham Serunjogi (Uganda) and Maijid Moujaled (Ghana), this platform provides free, instant peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border payments across Africa, Europe, and the US.
The company has always had pan-African ambition in its DNA and is heavily used by the diaspora to send money instantly to countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Kenya.
What distinguishes Chipper Cash from others is that it was built for intra-African transfers from day one. While most remittance apps are primarily focused on Western corridors (UK to Nigeria, US to Ghana),Chipper Cash allows you to send from Kenya to Rwanda or from Ghana to Nigeria without going through a Western intermediary.
It offers more than transfers. You have bill payments, airtime top-ups, and even access to US stocks for African investors.
Photo source: Chipper Cash
How do you get started on Chipper Cash?
- Visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download the app
- Open the app and select your preferred registration method (usually phone number or email)
- Verify phone number
- Set up personal details
- Complete KYC verification
- Set up account details.
WorldRemit
WorldRemit, one of the most established digital remittance platforms serving Africa, was co-founded by Somali-born entrepreneur Ismail Ahmed to digitize the money transfer industry and simplify international money transfers. It allows users to send money from over 50 countries worldwide to over 130 destinations.
The platform has made it convenient for you to send money, and for your family and friends to receive it. While some apps only offer bank-to-bank transfers, WorldRemit offers various options for sending money to loved ones overseas, including bank transfer, mobile money, and cash pickup. It also offers airtime top-ups.
How do you get started on WorldRemit?
- Download the app from Google Play or the App Store, sign up with your email, and select your country of residence
- Verify your account
- Upload documents: You may need to upload a photo ID (government-issued ID, passport, or driver’s license) to comply with security regulations
- Start a transfer.
All these fintechs have revolutionized how people send money internationally, providing a convenient, affordable, and secure alternative to traditional remittance methods. They are proof that when Black and African founders build for their own communities, the results are transformative.
