For all the talk about emerging markets and their similarities, moves involving African startups expanding to Latin America are rare. Only two significant activities come to mind recently: Migo’s expansion to Brazil and Paga’s planned move to Mexico, their respective second markets outside Africa.
What’s rarer, however, is the reverse — Latin American tech startups extending their footprint into Africa. That makes the news of Brazilian fintech unicorn EBANX expanding operations into Africa somewhat impressive. Last September, the payments technology company, which provided local payment solutions across 15 countries before the announcement, said Africa was its first expansion outside Latin America, taking its market footprint to 18, including South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
The rationale behind EBANX’s African move isn’t lost on anyone. The continent presents a $115 billion digital economy, resulting from a combination of a young and digitally savvy population and increasing…
