The African fintech landscape is witnessing a major shift as Nigerian startup, Cardri Finance, intensifies efforts to simplify trade and payment flows across the continent, creating seamless instant payment infrastructure.

This is through its Instant Intra-Africa Payment product, an innovation that experts say could significantly reduce Africa’s $5 billion annual loss caused by intra-Africa payment inefficiencies.

Seamless Instant Payment Infrastructure & AI-Powered Risk Management

Cardri’s initiative is strategically aligned with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to promote seamless trade and economic integration across the continent.

The platform currently enables individuals and small businesses to send and receive money instantly and in local currencies in up to 24 countries, eliminating the dependence on foreign intermediaries such as dollar or euro settlements, which currently dominate intra-African payments.

The system, according to Cardri, has already been adopted by several small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria that trade across Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and other African markets, allowing them to eliminate transaction delays and access new market opportunities.

Speaking on the impact of the platform, Cardri’s CEO Bolaji Okunade said the innovation is designed to “empower African businesses to trade freely and securely across borders without the burden of complex currency conversions or long settlement cycles.”

The company is also currently developing and AI-powered risk management tool that allows users to hedge against market and currency volatility, ensuring the financial resilience of cross-border operations across Africa.

Financial analysts have described Cardri’s technology as a game-changer in addressing
one of the continent’s most pressing economic challenges – the high cost of intra-African
transactions.

They note that by facilitating real-time transfers between African banks and digital wallets, Cardri could help unlock billions in untapped trade potential for the continent’s private sector.

According to industry experts, Cardri’s approach also strengthens Africa’s financial independence, as it promotes the use of homegrown infrastructure for continental trade rather than reliance on global systems.

This aligns with AfCFTA’s broader vision of a unified African market driven by indigenous innovation and collaboration. Cardri’s leadership believes that solving Africa’s payment bottlenecks will drive a new era of economic inclusion.

“For trade to thrive, money must move as freely as goods and services,” said by Cardri’s Co-Founder & COO Clement David.

“We see a future where a small business in Lagos can pay a supplier in Nairobi as easily as making a local transfer.”

As the platform expands its footprint, stakeholders in the Fintech and trade ecosystem say Cardri’s work represents a defining step toward the realization of AfCFTA’s promise — a truly connected Africa where cross-border trade becomes not a privilege, but a daily reality.