Grey builds payment links across Africa to improve money transfers

Grey is building its own payment connections between African markets to make cross-border transfers more reliable and to secure the foreign currency needed to settle them, according to TechCabal. Idorenyin Obong, the co-founder and chief executive of Grey, spoke at a press briefing at Moonshot by TechCabal 2026 on Thursday.

Grey lets individuals and businesses send and receive money across markets including Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. Moving money between African countries remains slow and costly because payment systems are fragmented, each conversion adds a fee, and dollars or other foreign currency are often scarce.

Payment Problems and Direct Conversions

Obong named reliability and liquidity as the two main problems. Grey has partnered with providers across its markets to source currencies and settle transfers in real time. Most transfers between two African currencies have traditionally gone through the US dollar first, but Grey now converts directly between some African currencies.

The push follows two product launches this year. Grey launched Grey Business, a multi-currency account for startups and small businesses, in February. In July, the company added local-currency deposits in Ghana and Kenya, letting users fund accounts by bank transfer or mobile money.

Regulatory Efforts

Regulators are working on the same problem. The Central Bank of Nigeria was pursuing closer regional payments integration in June, including links to the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, which lets African countries settle cross-border payments in their own currencies.

If companies like Grey can settle directly between African currencies, a trader in Lagos paying a supplier in Nairobi would no longer need to buy dollars first. This removes one of the costliest steps in trade within the continent.