Set up cross-border payments for your startup
How to send and receive money across African borders as a founder or remote African team.
Define your cross-border use case. Receiving international client payments (USD/GBP/EUR into Africa) is different from sending payments between African countries. Different tools solve each.
To receive USD, GBP, or EUR internationally: open a Grey or Geegpay virtual account. You get a US/UK bank account number that international clients can wire to. Funds land in your account, then you withdraw to your local bank at the market rate.
For high-volume international receivables as a business: Fincra provides multi-currency virtual accounts at a business level with better limits than consumer apps like Grey or Geegpay.
To send money across African countries to contractors or partners: use Chipper Cash for personal transfers — free and instant between Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.
For bulk payouts to African contractors or employees: Workpay handles multi-country payroll with local currency disbursements. For one-off transfers, Send by Flutterwave supports multiple African corridors.
For paying school fees or service providers abroad: Tuition by Flutterwave handles tuition payments to international universities. For other international invoices, Grey or Geegpay allow outbound transfers in USD.
Understand the CBN and local central bank limits. Nigeria has outbound transfer limits that change periodically. Always check current CBN circulars before promising clients a specific payment timeline.
Keep records of all cross-border transactions for tax and compliance purposes. Most jurisdictions require you to declare foreign income and cross-border transfers above certain thresholds.