By Justina Okechukwu
Grey, a Nigerian remittance fintech, has launched Grey Business, a new suite of tools designed to equip African SMEs with the cross-border financial services needed to operate globally. The move signals a strategic bet on the continent’s rapidly growing base of startups, creatives, and entrepreneurs who need more than just consumer-grade solutions.
“Our focus is really just improving the interconnectivity of the digital world,” Iheakachi Nwabueze, the head of global marketing and growth at Grey, told TechCabal at the Moonshot conference on Thursday, Oct. 16. “We are making it possible for everyone in a developing economy to have access to the same financial tools to make their work easier that their Western counterparts have.”
Africa’s creator and gig economy is expanding rapidly, with millions of individuals and small businesses offering services to clients in the US, Europe, and Asia. However, legacy financial systems, which often impose high fees, slow transfer times, and complex compliance hurdles, effectively lock them out of lucrative global markets.
By simplifying international payments, Grey is building a critical layer of infrastructure for this new economic wave with Grey Business, which extends the company’s core offering to formal business structures of any size.
“With Grey Business, we’re hoping to bring all the functionalities that we have for our individual product to our business owners,” Nwabueze explained. The new product will provide businesses with accounts in USD, Euro, and Pounds, virtual cards, and tools for invoicing and bookkeeping, allowing a startup in Lagos to receive funding from a US investor as easily as a local transfer.
Nwabueze shared a personal story that highlighted the practical, real-world problem Grey solves. While attending a conference in Nairobi, she was able to fund her Grey account with Nigerian Naira and seamlessly pay a local vendor via Kenya’s ubiquitous M-Pesa mobile money service. “It’s great for me at least to always see how we’re directly impacting people’s lives,” she said. “This is a real problem that people have.”
Addressing potential regulatory hurdles, Nwabueze confirmed that Grey operates with FinCEN and FINTRAC licences in the US and Canada and works exclusively with licensed partners in the regions it serves. “This is important to everyone at the company… to work with registered providers to provide our services,” she noted, emphasising Grey’s commitment to compliance.
Set to launch next Friday, the introduction of Grey Business marks a pivotal evolution for the company. By moving from serving individual freelancers to equipping entire businesses, Grey is positioning itself as a foundational financial platform for the next generation of African companies aiming to compete not just locally, but on a global stage.
