How APIs Are Revolutionising the Way Businesses Connect With Africa

With the global business landscape increasingly experiencing transformation, nearly daily, businesses are finding new methods of problem-solving to stay relevant. Therefore, business owners must consistently stay inventive to maintain growth in revenue and market share, and keep business going.

Globally, many international businesses are looking to expand into various African markets. And why wouldn’t they? The continent is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, a youthful tech-savvy population and an untapped consumer base. However, navigating the complexities of cross-border transactions can be challenging, in addition to understanding country regulations. 

Enter Payments API, the technological catalyst revolutionising the way businesses connect with African markets.

As Chris Maurice, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow Card, rightly says, “Half of the world’s growth is coming from Africa in the next 50 years: Africa and South America. This is the place where you have some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. You have some of the fastest growing middle class in the world, and you just have a young population that’s ready to go.”

It is no wonder then that the company has created a payments API to help global businesses access and harness the potential for growth in Africa’s promising economy.

So, how does a payments API help businesses?

First on the list is the issue of lack of access. A payments API can help businesses solve the problem of access to local on and off-ramp payment methods for their customers easily. The primary function of this API is payment data transmission between two systems, which involves payments across distant international borders being made instantly. For instance, a business outside the African continent without access to Africa can gain that access using a payment API. This way, the business does not have to go through any of the operational, financial, legal and regulatory burdens of setting up local offices in each African country to support its customers. 

Beyond its speed and access, a payments API is an excellent way for businesses to maximise their funds and make operations easier. A company operating in more financially volatile regions like Africa would be able to secure funds against inflation with a tool like a payments API. Companies like Yellow Card are helping to simplify business payments in Africa with their API. With very competitive FX rates, low fees, and a major focus on creating ease for business owners within and outside the continent, Yellow Card carries out fund transfers through their exchange run by crypto rails.

According to Mark Mbugua, Regional Marketing Manager, SADC Region, at Yellow Card, our payments API dramatically reduces the obstacles to accessing the 1.2B people on the African continent. Yellow Card can facilitate fast and secure peer-to-peer, bank and mobile money transfers for customers across 17 African countries. 

The benefits of a payments API are definitely key to global business growth. Therefore, as the business landscape continues to evolve, business owners must do the much-needed work of finding new and inventive ways to make life easier for the customer. This may involve simply improving internal operations and structure or making services easier and more accessible for the customer.

Whatever it is, we can be sure that customers will always gravitate towards the place where they find ease. And while there are many ways to achieve this ease and simplicity, a payments API might be a great way to start simplifying customer processes.