Grey expands African payout network as cross-border payments demand grows

Nigerian fintech Grey is expanding its cross-border payments footprint across Africa, launching direct payout routes to Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Rwanda as demand grows for faster and more locally accessible ways to move money across the continent.

The expansion gives Grey users more options to send money directly to bank accounts and mobile wallets in the four markets. The company supports bank-account payouts in Rwanda, while mobile money is available in Cameroon, with both bank and mobile-money options offered in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.

For Idorenyin Obong, co-founder and CEO of Grey, the expansion reflects a basic but persistent challenge in Africa's fragmented financial system: people may be sending money across borders, but recipients still need to receive it through the financial services they actually use.

“The local detail matters,” Obong said, pointing to differences in how consumers access financial services across African markets.

Grey has also recently added payout routes to China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, broadening a network built around Africans living, working and doing business across borders.

Obong said the larger opportunity is not simply adding more destinations, but making different payment systems work together more seamlessly.

For consumers and businesses, that means greater transparency around exchange rates, fees and delivery times — areas that can vary significantly between markets.

The expansion comes as Nigeria’s fintech sector enters another period of regulatory change. New Central Bank of Nigeria requirements around data localisation, beneficial ownership disclosure and the structure of the payments market are expected to take effect by the end of 2026.

For cross-border fintechs, Obong said, the changes raise practical questions about how transaction data is stored and managed, how ownership and control are documented, and how companies maintain competitive and resilient payment systems.

He said stronger domestic infrastructure — including reliable data centres, secure payment networks and technical expertise — could support the next phase of Nigeria’s fintech growth.

From expansion to industry cooperation

Grey is also backing Moonshot, reflecting the company's broader push to engage with regulators, infrastructure providers and other technology companies as it expands across markets.

Obong said cross-border payments depend on multiple financial systems and partners working together, making cooperation increasingly important as African fintech becomes more interconnected.

“As we expand into more markets, it’s become clearer how much this depends on cooperation,” he said.

For Grey, Moonshot provides a forum to discuss practical questions around payment connectivity, customer protection and the reliability of financial infrastructure.

The company, which began in Nigeria and now serves users globally, sees the event as an opportunity not only to share lessons from its expansion but also to build relationships across Africa’s fintech ecosystem.