Why Africa’s payments infrastructure needs to be rebuilt from scratch

Sending money across an African border should not be this complicated.

Yet for millions of people on the continent, a cross-border transfer still passes through a chain of intermediary banks, each one adding a fee, each one adding a delay, each one doing nothing particularly useful except existing in the middle. 

Maplerad is solving Africa’s cross-border problem

According to the World Bank, remittances to Africa totalled over $92.2 billion in 2024. In the same year, Sub-Saharan Africa remained the most expensive region in the world to send money, averaging 8.45% to transfer just $200. The UN’s target is 3%. The global average sits at 6.4%. In certain corridors, costs hit 12.7%.

Last updated: May 24, 2026