Formerly known as BitPesa, Africa’s currency trading  platform, AZA has secured $15 million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). From an initial $5,000 in monthly transactions in 2013, AZA currently does $80 million across its 11 markets, and is now gunning for a $100 million monthly transaction mark.

Here Is The Deal

• The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) led the $15 million funding round. 
• AZA says the fund will be used to improve liquidity and service more transactions as it expands to other markets across the world.
• Formerly known as BitPesa, Aza has also undergone a rebranding of its products and services.
• Under the new arrangement, AZA will now be a parent company to BitPesa, BFX and TransferZero.
• The startup is solving the liquidity problem and access to both local and foreign currencies for businesses by optimising remittances.
• Its original flagship product, BitPesa will provide cryptocurrency liquidity, exchange and other services for individuals and institutions across Africa.
• BFX will enable SMEs in Africa pay and get paid through various channels, while TransferZero is an API that allows businesses plug in and grow their remittance, lending, and or banking businesses with ease.

Why The Investors Invested

• This round of funding was led by the Development Bank of Southern African, which is a South African government owned development finance institute that funds economic development projects. The institute describes itself as wanting to “play a pivotal role in delivering developmental infrastructure in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.”
• The Joule Africa’s Hydropower Project in Sierra Leone and an off-grid energy and media company, Apalia24 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are among some of the DBSA’s latest development funding commitments.
• In its drive to develop Africa, DBSA usually funds large physical infrastructural projects and has never worked with a virtual or digital one. AZA does not fit the typical profile of projects and is the first company of its kind to receive funding from the DFI.
• According to AZA CEO, Elizabeth Rossiello, this is an indicator that DBSA believes in AZA’s mission.

“The [DBSA] believe in what we are doing, and that the digital payments and financial infrastructure we are building will play a massive role in helping African businesses thrive globally and in return develop the continent’s economy,” Founder and CEO of AZA, Elizabeth Rossiello said in a interview.

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A Look At Aza

• In 2013, as a solution to existing inefficient and expensive systems, Elizabeth Rossiello founded then BitPesa as a cryptocurrency remittance solution for businesses in Kenya. It later combined cryptocurrency with a netting and pooling method.
• Two years later in 2015, BitPesa expanded to Nigeria and Uganda.
• The company is still headquartered in Nairobi Kenya with regional offices in Lagos, London, Luxembourg, Dakar, and Madrid and operations in 11 markets across Africa; Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, and Senegal.
  AZA’s East Africa team in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Following an expansion to Nigeria and Uganda in 2015, the company raised a first ever $1.1 million in seed funding and according to Crunchbase, a cumulative $15 million over the years before its recent $15 million round from the DBSA.
• Currency illiquidity is still a major hindrance to trade and investment in Africa. And studies estimated that in 2013 and 2014, trade finance in Africa with banks as middle men were worth $430 billion and $362 billion respectively.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world