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Kanoo eyeing greater Africa expansion

While Kanoo Pays is already in the African market, helping the Bank of Ghana to roll out a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the mobile wallet company and fintech firm is hoping to expand its presence on the continent further as it takes part in this week’s Afreximbank 31st Annual Meetings and the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, in conjunction with the International Trade Center (ITC), Chairman of Kanoo Nicholas Rees told Guardian Business yesterday.

Rees explained that the ITC invited Kanoo to be part of its trade show booth this week, as the company positions itself to expand into more African markets.

According to Rees, Kanoo has already eyed projects in Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Ivory Coast that are underway.

“Kanoo and Emtech are collaborating on cross border financial trade ecosystems, payments, central bank infrastructure,” said Rees.

“And so that is something that is available and in action now. What I found to be exciting was that what this conference is seeking to achieve, we’re actually doing it. Not just in the CBDC space, but also in the wearables.”

Rees said Kanoo will have a wearables demonstration using this country’s CBDC, Sand Dollar, at the conference this week.

He explained that wearable technology allows users to carry out payment transactions using things like rings and bracelets.

He said Kanoo has contracts with five major banks in Africa for wearable technology.

Rees added: “We have another investment in the offline payment card space, where we’re looking at doing some work in Tanzania.

“One of the concepts and projects that we’re looking at is the digitization of raw materials and products out of Africa, creating a digital platform to connect farmers and suppliers of raw material with end users, businesses, in an authenticated, verified marketplace that is obviously facilitated and undergirded by payments.

“So, we have, through three of our investments… we’ve actually found in Africa already in multiple countries working with one central bank.

“(We are) expanding to another five central banks in the West African bloc, and also another five commercial banks that we are we actually have contracts signed in the wearable payments space.”