Cross-border payments platform Oneremit says it is redefining what “success” means in African business payments, arguing that speed, volume and low cost are not enough if customers still have to chase transactions and manage unresolved issues.
Founded in 2024 by Hammed Afenifere, Olusola Carter and Bolaji, Oneremit focuses on outbound commercial payments for African importers and businesses that need to pay suppliers in China, the Gulf, Europe and North America. The company says it now serves more than 1,000 businesses and has processed over $200 million in outbound transactions.
Oneremit’s leadership says the industry typically measures success by how fast or cheaply money moves. Its internal standard is stricter: a payment has not truly succeeded if the client is still dealing with follow-ups, delays or uncertainty after initiating the transfer.
“We’re not in the business of moving money. We’re in the business of taking a problem off someone’s desk,” the company says. “If a founder in Lagos has spent their week chasing a payment, we’ve failed, no matter how good the transfer was.
Under this model, a successful payment is one that does not follow the founder home, into the weekend or across multiple days of unresolved queries. If the problem remains on the desk, the work is incomplete.
Oneremit combines compliance-focused infrastructure with a human concierge support model. Customers initiate payments on the platform, while Oneremit handles routing through its network of financial institutions and payment partners. The company says this approach is designed to help businesses resolve issues quickly and navigate complex international transfers without needing deep in-house expertise.
Strategic partnerships with international payment firms including OwlPay, TerraPay and Blockradar are used to improve settlement times, expand corridor coverage and strengthen transaction monitoring. Oneremit says it is not trying to replace banks or correspondent networks, but to work with them so customers do not have to manage the complexity.
The platform currently holds regulatory licences in Canada, the United States and Nigeria, with approvals underway in the United Kingdom, Ghana and Tanzania as part of plans to expand further into European and pan-African markets.
In August 2026, Oneremit brought together 40 senior finance leaders at a closed-door session to discuss cross-border payment challenges, signalling its ambition to shape industry standards as much as to provide a service.
Oneremit’s stance reflects broader frustrations with Africa’s cross-border payment landscape, where businesses lose billions to opaque FX spreads, slow banking chains and complex compliance. Regional initiatives such as PAPSS aim to improve intra-African settlement in local currencies, but many commercial corridors still rely on costly dollar-based correspondent banking.
By focusing on reliability, transparency and end-to-end problem resolution, Oneremit says it is trying to shift the conversation from “how fast” and “how cheap” to “how certain” cross-border payments can be for African businesses.
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