The problem
Much of Africa’s economy runs on cash, especially at cross-border trade points. Cash is risky to carry, hard to reconcile and invisible to lenders. At the Kasumbalesa border between Lubumbashi in the DRC and Zambia, an estimated one billion dollars a year is traded informally, outside any system that could record it, tax it or lend against it.
What we are building
Payola is a payments platform designed for how African markets actually trade. It is mobile-first, works offline and is ready for cross-border use. A hybrid network of cash-in and cash-out agents connects to digital wallets, so traders can move from cash to digital at their own pace.
For communities: a safer alternative to carrying cash, and a path into formal finance and credit.
For businesses, lenders and governments: visibility into trade flows that were previously invisible, and transaction histories that can support credit, lending and trade finance.
Why the data matters
Every digitised transaction at a border like Kasumbalesa adds to a real-time picture of trade across the continent. That record is the foundation for credit scoring, trade finance and better economic policy, and Kasumbalesa is one of hundreds of similar crossing points.
Part of a connected stack
Payola is the payments layer of the Afrocentric portfolio. It is designed to work with e-ID Africa for verified identity and VeriBiz for verified businesses.
Status
Early pilots are running with merchants and local trading groups. The roadmap covers peer-to-peer transfers, business payments and cross-border transactions. We are raising seed capital to scale across borders and to integrate with banks, telcos and trade systems.
