Kotani Pay Expands its services to Rwanda and Uganda
The expansion brings the Kenya-based fintech’s presence to six African countries.
Fiat to cryptocurrency on-ramp and off-ramp service provider, Kotani Pay, has announced that it is expanding into Rwanda and Uganda. This brings the African countries where its services are accessible to six.
Dive in
- The expansion lets local businesses and fintechs in these countries integrate Kotani Pay’s crypto-fiat payments gateway.
- They can accept payments in crypto and the local currency with the crypto company’s application programming interface (API).
- This enables businesses to choose to get paid for their goods and services in crypto or fiat while Kotani Pay facilitates the conversion.
- Other users in the country can also use its platform to convert their stablecoins to fiat, albeit for a fee.
Key quote
- Felix Macharia, CEO of Kotani Pay said:
“As we expand into Rwanda and Uganda, we are thrilled to support our clients in navigating these dynamic markets. This expansion empowers fintech and Web3 companies to enter with confidence, removing the payment and technical barriers that have previously hindered innovation. We are committed to helping our current and future clients scale seamlessly across borders.”
Zoom out
- A year ago, Kotani Pay raised $2 million towards expanding its services into other African markets.
- However, cryptocurrency regulations in these African countries may yet prove to be a stumbling block to its expansion drive.
- As of 2018, Rwanda has not regulated crypto assets and the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) regarded cryptocurrencies as prohibited in the country.
- In Uganda as well, cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender. However, in 2020, the country updated its rules to require virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to register with the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA).
- Its expansion into Rwanda and Uganda raises questions on its regulatory compliance especially since crypto has no legal status in both countries.
