In partnership with Cellulant, Nigerian fintech Grey announced the launch of its service to East Africa, starting with Kenya.
KAMPALA | LIFESTYLE UGANDA — A Nigerian fintech company called Grey has launched its service in East Africa with a focus on Kenya in partnership with Cellulant.
Grey’s products, including foreign bank accounts, instant currency exchange, and international money transfers, are now available to Kenyans who sign up on their website.
By partnering with Cellulant, Grey has positioned itself in East Africa to address the increasing difficulties in sending and receiving money overseas, starting with Kenya.
Grey, a Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, offers its users an international payment service that’s easy to use and allows them to send and receive payments internationally without limitations.
Cellulant powers Grey’s payouts to thousands of its users.
In a ceremony on 25 May, Grey and Cellulant executives demonstrated how users can create a virtual foreign USD, GBP, and EUR bank account – at no charge – that can be used to receive payments directly in Kenya Shillings or Nigerian Naira.
With the instant currency exchange service, Grey provides its customers with free virtual international bank accounts, which help small businesses, freelancers, remote workers, and content creators in Kenya enjoy a seamless payment process.
A rapidly growing gig economy is providing work opportunities to thousands of young Kenyans through digital platforms. The growth of the online gig economy is a result of a young workforce, the proliferation of mobile money, and the growth of internet and smartphone penetration.
Africa has the youngest working class yet is also one of the continents with the highest unemployment rates. Online gig work provides alternative and accessible employment opportunities as well as a path to economic prosperity for Africa’s young workforce.
The idea for Grey was born in this context; Mr. Idorenyin Obong, Grey’s CEO, worked remotely for international companies but faced numerous challenges in accessing foreign currency in his accounts.
In 2021, Idorenyin Obong and Femi Aghedo launched Grey, with the goal of making it easier for Nigerians to exchange foreign currencies for local currencies, as well as gain access to the foreign currencies in their accounts.
Grey lets Kenyans receive payments in their preferred currency and withdraw directly into M-Pesa or their local bank accounts. Let’s say you are a traveller planning a trip to Nairobi; you can convert any supported currencies into Kenyan Shillings, pay for services directly through M-Pesa, or withdraw into your local bank account.
With this launch of Grey’s services, they are now available in Kenya and Nigeria. They will be available on the app stores soon.
