Ghana fintech company approved to do business in Barbados

The fintech company Zeepay has been given the green light from the Barbados central bank to establish its Zeemoney Caribbean headquarters on the island.

In a media release on Wednesday, the Ghana-based company, which boasts of being one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in the world, said its operations in Barbados were expected to create about 10,000 jobs while stimulating the fintech ecosystem.

Co-founder and CEO Andrew Takyi-Appiah said remittances and diaspora payments remained a major source of foreign exchange and household income for developing economies around the world.

He pointed out that in 2020 the World Bank reported remittance inflows into low- and middle-income countries defied the covid19 pandemic hit US$540 billion.

He explained, “Our Barbados company, Zeemoney, will position itself to act as a bridge between Africa and the people of the Caribbean by making it easier for individuals to receive and send funds to friends and family abroad and improve access across 200 corridors globally.

“Currently, Barbados alone receives about US$216 million in remittances and is anticipated to grow through this arrangement. Zeemoney will open the country for ease of receipt of international remittances and help improve last-minute access, which hither to had been a bane as evidenced in the long queues experienced during collection.”

He said parent company Zeepay, through its focus on innovation and technology, increased sales volume to US$400 million in 2020, connected by digital assets such as mobile money wallets, cards, ATM, and global tokens, to international money transfer operators.

Zeepay also has a registered presence in Grenada, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,and other offices around and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, as well as other regulators across Africa. It operates in 20 countries in Africa.

“Our long-term Caribbean objective is to become the number-one remittance-to-wallet player in the region and to facilitate this we will leverage our global presence, while exploring mergers and acquisitions of other mobile financial service operators and green field operations."

Takyi-Appiah said the company was "excited by the Caribbean’s great potential for the sustained promotion of financial inclusion, and we see Barbados as a strategic gateway for the rest of the region, with transformational and visionary leadership that enjoys growing international respect and a stable economy that’s receptive to innovation and technology.”