South African digital fintech firm Ukheshe Technologies is expanding globally, setting its sights on the Middle East, Europe and Asia-Pacific after steadily establishing its position as a payment technology specialist in the business-to-business (B2B) sector locally and across Africa.

The company recently concluded several high-profile projects and partnerships in various African countries, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Botswana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Ghana.

“We will continue to look for potential acquisitions in these new markets to further support Ukheshe’s growth and strategy as we pursue our goal of reaching unicorn status within the next three years,” says Ukheshe CEO Clayton Hayward.

Over the past two years, Ukheshe has built strong alliances with Mastercard, acquired two companies and raised nearly R100-million, while collaborating with numerous blue-chip banks, telcos and other fintech firms.

Further, Ukheshe recently concluded an agreement resulting in Kenya-based lender KCB Bank Kenya sponsoring Ukheshe’s Bank Identification Number, which enables Ukheshe to issue physical and virtual cards across East Africa, where KCB has an extensive footprint, to drive financial inclusion.

“Our partnerships underpin a shared vision on simplicity and transparency in payments, while addressing several open-loop market opportunities to boost wider consumer adoption,” adds Ukheshe Africa executive director Mark Dankworth.

Ukheshe will now also focus on establishing significant long-term partnerships in strategic locations within the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Donovan Drew has been appointed as president for Asia-Pacific; Paul Selibas as project engineering president, based in Europe; and Chris Pillay as VP of finance, located in Dubai.

“As a B2B provider of tailor-made payment solutions, we are proud to enable truly digital-first banking while servicing the market with relevant financial propositions and supporting organisations in their efforts to enhance financial inclusion,” says Hayward.

He adds that Ukheshe’s Eclipse application processing interface is one of the best examples of the company’s ongoing evolution and aptitude for opening up new pathways to innovation within the payments industry.

“The Eclipse platform neatly encapsulates everything from customer and organisation management to ‘know your customer’, or KYC compliance, digital wallet, QR code acquiring, card issuing, bank integration and cross-border remittance, besides others,” he continues, noting that, through Eclipse, clients can create their own tailor-made individual fintech solution through a trusted fintech enablement platform.

Currently, Ukheshe provides the platforms and technology that support 16 banks and fintechs, three telcos, 3 000 billers and 200 000 merchants, as well as 18-million digital wallets and four-million apps combined, which process millions of transactions every month.