Nigerian Fintech Company Kuda Expands Global Footprint With The Acquisition of New Licenses

Kuda Bank, a Nigeria fintech company that offers seamless transfer of cash for customers, has obtained payment licenses in Tanzania and Canada, marking a significant step in its expansion strategy across Africa and the global market.

With these licenses, Kuda will be able to offer remittance and multi-currency wallet services to Africans residing in Canada, as well as similar services to its customers in Tanzania through the Tanzanian Payment Service Provider (PSSP) license.

These new licenses positions Kuda in direct competition with startups like LemFi and Nala, that have positioned themselves as global neobanks catering to Africans in the diaspora. Kuda’s launch in Tanzania is coming after it raised a $55 million seed B round in 2021, with the Co-founder and CEO Babs Ogundeyi disclosing that the company does not just want to expand within the Nigerian market alone but also wants to use the funding to launch its platform in more countries in the African continent.

The fintech company has previously ventured into the remittance market by securing a payment license in the United Kingdom in 2022. It introduced a subscription-based remittance service with a flat fee of £3 and a transfer limit of £10,000. However, sources suggest that this product has been discontinued, possibly due to the market’s lack of readiness for a subscription-based remittance offering.

Given this experience, it is probable that when Kuda launches its services in Canada and Tanzania, it will opt for a different approach rather than subscription-based models. By focusing on markets like Canada and the UK where the number of Nigerian migrants continues to grow, Kuda has an opportunity to grow its foreign exchange revenue at a time when the FX rates are negatively affecting the profits of startups in Nigeria.