Afriex Expands Into Asia to Tap Cross-Border Payment Demand
TLDR
- Lagos- and San Francisco-based money transfer startup Afriex has expanded into China, India, and Pakistan—Asia’s top three remittance markets
- Founded in 2019, Afriex enables real-time money transfers between Africa and other regions by bypassing traditional payment networks like SWIFT
- Afriex targets African merchants and diaspora users involved in trade or family remittances
Lagos- and San Francisco-based money transfer startup Afriex has expanded into China, India, and Pakistan—Asia’s top three remittance markets—to meet rising demand for fast, low-cost cross-border payments.
Founded in 2019, Afriex enables real-time money transfers between Africa and other regions by bypassing traditional payment networks like SWIFT. The company offers mobile app-based services with local currency integration and claims that 90% of its transfers complete in under two seconds. Transfers to China are not yet instant, but improvements are underway.
India received $120 billion in remittances in 2023, while China and Pakistan received $50 billion and $27 billion, respectively. Afriex targets African merchants and diaspora users involved in trade or family remittances. To grow adoption, the company waives fees on transfers above $10 and earns revenue from FX spreads.
Afriex faces regulatory and technical hurdles in China, including documentation, name verification, and language barriers. Still, the startup expects to enable near-instant transfers to China by late 2025. Afriex has raised $11.2 million to date and plans to pursue another funding round in early 2026.
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Key Takeaways
Afriex’s move into Asia reflects a strategic focus on emerging trade and remittance routes between Africa and key markets like China, India, and Pakistan. As African businesses increasingly import goods from Asia, traditional money transfer systems remain costly and slow. Afriex’s real-time infrastructure addresses this inefficiency, offering speed and cost savings critical to merchants and individuals alike. The decision to waive fees and monetize through FX spreads mirrors models used by other global fintechs, allowing Afriex to scale quickly while maintaining revenue flexibility. By integrating directly with local partners in each country, the startup gains both compliance capabilities and market intelligence—key to operating across complex regulatory environments. Afriex is entering a competitive but growing sector. Rivals like Flutterwave and LemFi are also expanding their footprint in Asia to serve African diaspora and trade flows. The $190 trillion global cross-border payments market is increasingly being redefined by startups building fast, reliable infrastructure tailored to underserved corridors. Afriex’s real-time, mobile-first model positions it to benefit from this shift—if it can maintain compliance, scale partnerships, and deliver consistent service across multiple regions.
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