“The Africhange vision is to be at the forefront of new immigrants’ stories by assisting them at every step of their journey from their home to new country” Olatunji Obaoye, Senior Product Manager at Africhange.
Every day, thousands of Africans leave home and there are millions of Africans currently in the diaspora. In 2020 nearly 41 million people emigrated from the African continent and the japa syndrome is a common phenomenon documented in Nigeria, the most populous African nation. As Africans move daily for school, work, and the pursuit of other needs, families, friends, and colleagues are getting separated all over the world. Africhange, a money transfer platform, is helping immigrants settle in new countries and stay connected with family and friends through access to seamless remittances service.
Africhange has made it easy to send money to and from Nigeria to Canada and from Canada to anywhere with the best rates. Whether you’re interested in sending money to your parents from Canada, sending money for a friend’s wedding, or paying for services in Canada from Nigeria, Africhange provides an easy, fast, and reliable system with no hidden charges.
As people migrate for school and work, they carry along responsibilities from home and sometimes require financial assistance from parents and loved ones. Data shows that diaspora remittances to Africa (excluding North Africa) grew 14% to $49 billion in 2021 and this number will increase over the years as remittances remain a critical source of external finance for Africans. Relocating to a new country also involves a lot of funds and before this solution by Africhange, a lot of immigrants had to use middlemen to send and receive money from home. Using middlemen means depending on the exchange rate set by these middlemen and the speed and security of transactions is also dependent on these middlemen. These middlemen inflate the exchange rate, delay transactions, and can sometimes not be trusted so the security of your funds is not guaranteed. This is the main problem that Africhange is solving and they’re doing this by simplifying cross-border payments through a faster, cheaper, and easily accessible platform open to all.
Founded and run mainly by immigrants, the personal immigration experiences of the team have helped influence the products and goals of the company. They are acutely aware of the myriad of challenges, emotions, and sheer bravery involved in leaving one’s homeland to forge a new path elsewhere so to continue to be part of and ease the new immigrant experience, the company is expanding its services beyond just remittance to other areas where immigrants need assistance. The Africhange Foundation is the nonprofit arm of the company and through this foundation, the company is seeking solutions and helping African immigrants with their transitioning and settling process. The Africhange Foundation stands as a beacon of hope in this journey, ensuring that these brave immigrants are not alone in their endeavours. With a vision to level the playing field for Africans worldwide, the foundation’s inaugural initiative is a testament to its dedication. They are awarding 20 deserving African students with grants of $2500 each. According to Tega Ogigirigi, Growth Marketing Manager at Africhange “This initiative not only serves as a financial boost but also stands as a symbol of encouragement, a gesture that says, “We believe in you.” In essence, the Africhange Foundation isn’t merely providing financial aid; it’s nurturing dreams, fostering ambitions, and championing the spirit of resilience. As the world becomes an increasingly interconnected global village, this foundation is ensuring that African voices aren’t just part of the chorus but are strong, vibrant, and resonant.” he says
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Africhange also has a feature embedded on the payment platform that gives students discounts and better rates for their financial transactions like paying school fees and other bills. Since a huge chunk of African immigrants are students, starting with this demographic was the right step for the Africhange Foundation. They’re catering to students first but eventually will move on to businesses and other communities to continue to immerse themselves in solving immigrant problems.
Other features on the Africhange payment platform include enabling users from Nigeria to pay bills in Canada. Businesses can also integrate with Africhange’s API to easily perform bulk business transactions. They can pay salaries and taxes, and perform other financial transactions.
The company is currently bootstrapping itself by not seeking any funding at this time and focusing on understanding the pain points of its customers and how to fix these pain points. So far the hard work and focus from the team is paying off as the company is growing rapidly with a hundred thousand users at the moment. Currently, Africhange only serves users in Canada, Nigeria, and Australia but they plan to expand operations as time goes on. Users in Canada can send money to Nigeria, Ghana, the US, Mexico, Kenya, Benin Republic, Togo, Senegal, etc. and users in Nigeria can send money to Canada.
You can make your cross-border experiences easier by joining the Africhange platform and enjoying seamless payments today.
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