An Alipay sticker shows consumers how to pay on mobile phones. (Image credit: TechNode/Shi Jiayi) Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has partnered with Silicon Valley and Lagos-based fintech startup Flutterwave to provide digital payments for African merchants using Alipay, TechCrunch reported .
Why it matters: The partnership allows the Hangzhou-based firm the opportunity to expand its merchant network in Africa. Partnerships between payment players from China and Africa have become increasingly common largely due to trade activity between the two regions, which hit $200 billion in value last year and is expected to grow even further.
Established companies in China, a country at the forefront of digital payments adoption, are in a position to benefit from Africa’s burgeoning fintech sector and rapid digitalization of businesses.
Details: With the partnership, Flutterwave’s 60,000 merchants will be able to accept Alipay as a payment method and tap into the platform’s vast pool of over 1 billion users, according to CEO Olugbenga Agboola. An Alipay spokesperson confirmed with TechNode the Flutterwave agreement without revealing further details.
Flutterwave provides payment solutions for merchants, payment service providers, and pan-African banks. The startup’s API allows businesses and commercial lenders to process payments across the continent smoothly and cheaply. Clients include Uber and Facebook.
Flutterwave will earn revenue by charging its standard 2.8% fee on international transactions.
The partnership followed Agboola’s participation in Alibaba’s eFounders Fellowship Program in the region.
Context: Flutterwave and Alipay are not the only fintech firms that aim to take advantage of growing payment activities boosted by China-Africa trade. Pan-African payment firm Wapi Pay revealed plans earlier this month to accelerate the acceptance of Chinese platforms, namely WeChat Pay and Alipay, in the region by providing a virtual gateway connecting 24 African nations to China within two years.
Kenya-based financial institution Equity Bank also announced plans in March to boost the presence of Chinese payment services in Africa.
Over the past two years, Alipay has made inroads into the African market via partnerships with solution providers like CoralPay and Zapper .
