Africa’s $1.5 trillion trade economy is attracting fintech startups betting that stablecoins can solve one of the continent’s oldest financial infrastructure problems: moving money across borders efficiently.
Trade involving African countries and businesses reached approximately $1.5 trillion in 2024, according to estimates from trade and financial industries, buoyed partly by a 12.4% increase in intra-African trade during the same period. As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gradually expands cross-border trade, the need for faster, cheaper payment infrastructure has become increasingly urgent.
Historically, these trade transactions have been facilitated through commercial banks and correspondent banking relationships outside the continent. While functional, the process is often slow, expensive, and fragmented. Settlement can take days, foreign exchange liquidity is frequently limited, and businesses operating across multiple African markets still struggle with inconsistent banking infrastructure.
In recent years, fintech startups have attempted to address parts of the problem through remittance products, business banking tools, and foreign exchange solutions. Now, a growing number of companies are exploring whether stablecoins and blockchain-based infrastructure can provide a more scalable alternative for cross-border finance in emerging markets. Checker is the latest entrant, positioning itself within that category.
Founded in 2025 by Jack Chong and Justin McMahan, the startup is formally launching operations in Africa with a product designed to help financial institutions integrate stablecoin-powered financial services into their offerings.
Through a single API, Checker allows financial institutions to access tools for liquidity management, treasury operations, cross-border payments, and credit infrastructure using stablecoins and digital assets.
Rather than targeting consumers directly, the startup is positioning itself as infrastructure for banks, fintechs, payment companies, and neobanks seeking to modernise how money moves across markets.
“We’re building the network-of-networks infrastructure for the stablecoin era,” Isaac Umejiaku, Head of Africa Sales at Checker, shares. “With one integration, we connect African financial institutions to multiple payment providers, cross-border payment businesses, and banks globally, dramatically reducing settlement times and fees.”
Why stablecoins are gaining traction in Africa
The startup arrives at a time when stablecoins are gaining increasing relevance across Africa’s financial ecosystem. Although cryptocurrencies were initially associated with retail speculation, startups and financial institutions are increasingly exploring stablecoins as tools for payments, treasury management, and international settlements.
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Part of the appeal lies in stability. Unlike highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stablecoins are typically pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar, making them more practical for commercial transactions and savings. For African businesses, especially importers and exporters, this matters significantly.
Cross-border transactions across African markets remain among the most expensive globally. Businesses dealing with suppliers or partners in multiple countries often face challenges, including dollar scarcity, high conversion costs, and delays caused by intermediary banks. Stablecoins, proponents argue, can help bypass some of those inefficiencies by enabling near-instant transfers and easier access to dollar-denominated liquidity.
Checker says it wants to sit at the centre of that transition. In addition to cross-border settlement tools, the startup also works with neobanks and fintech companies to enable services such as digital savings, remittances, and credit products. By integrating with Checker’s API, financial institutions can offer trading and investment products while navigating evolving virtual asset service provider (VASP) regulations in markets such as Kenya and South Africa.
Regulation remains one of the most important considerations for companies operating in Africa’s digital asset sector. While adoption has grown rapidly across the continent, regulatory approaches vary significantly from country to country.
Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa have emerged as major crypto markets, but each is developing its own framework for digital assets, licensing, and compliance obligations. For infrastructure providers such as Checker, building products that can adapt to different regulatory environments may prove just as important as the technology itself.
According to Chong, Africa’s attractiveness as a market stems from three converging trends: rising cryptocurrency adoption among young Africans, increasing remittance flows into the continent, and expanding trade activity between African economies.
Each of those markets is substantial on its own. Remittances to Africa surpassed $100 billion in 2025, even as the continent continues to record some of the world’s highest remittance costs. Sending money to sub-Saharan Africa still costs significantly more than the global average, creating opportunities for companies offering faster, cheaper alternatives.
At the same time, Africa has become one of the fastest-growing regions for crypto adoption globally, driven largely by young populations seeking alternatives for savings, payments, and access to global financial systems amid currency volatility and inflation in several markets.
Trade growth is adding another layer of demand. As businesses increasingly operate across borders within Africa, payment infrastructure capable of supporting multi-currency transactions efficiently is becoming critical.
Building infrastructure for Africa’s trade economy
Checker’s launch on the continent is backed by $8 million in funding from a mix of African investors, global venture firms, and fintech operators.
The round was led by Al Mada Ventures, with participation from Galaxy Ventures, DFS Lab, SNZ Capital, Bitso, and Airtm. Notable angel investors in the round include Andela and Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; Juicyway co-founder Justin Stiegler; and former Onafriq Vice President Gwera Kiwana.
“Stablecoins represent the next generation of financial opportunity for emerging markets, particularly in Africa,” says Stephen Deng, General Partner at DFS Lab. “Checker is the right team, with the right exposure across frontier markets, to lead this transformation, and when we found that, we leaned in pretty heavily.”
Investor appetite for stablecoin infrastructure companies has accelerated globally over the past two years as payment firms, banks, and fintech startups increasingly explore blockchain-based settlement rails. In Africa, where fragmented banking systems and foreign exchange constraints remain persistent challenges, the use case has attracted particular attention.
Still, scaling such infrastructure businesses on the continent is rarely straightforward. African fintech operators must navigate complex regulatory landscapes, fragmented payment systems, varying banking relationships, and trust concerns around digital assets. Building local partnerships often becomes essential for market entry and long-term expansion.
Checker says it intends to rely heavily on local collaborations as it expands across the continent.
“Africa is a unique market; hence, for Checker to succeed, we partner with unique local partners who understand the regulatory climate, understand the local culture and dynamics and then give us the support,” Chong says.
The company already supports more than 75 currencies globally and currently operates across key African markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It says additional African countries will be added in the coming months as the company expands its regional footprint.
Checker also plans to grow its operations, engineering, and product teams to support that expansion.
Despite launching only a year ago, the startup says it has already surpassed $3 billion in annualised transaction processing volume. It also works with several African fintech startups, including Juicyway, Fincra, Yellow Card, and Kotani Pay.
Across Africa, the fintech ecosystem has matured considerably over the last decade. While the first wave of startups focused heavily on consumer payments and digital wallets, a newer generation of companies is building backend infrastructure powering financial services across the continent.
Whether stablecoins ultimately become mainstream rails for African trade and payments remains uncertain. Regulatory scrutiny globally continues to intensify, and questions around interoperability, compliance, and institutional adoption still persist. However, for many startups and investors, the opportunity is difficult to ignore.
Africa’s cross-border payment problem remains massive, trade volumes continue to rise, and businesses still face significant friction moving money efficiently across markets. Companies capable of reducing those frictions, whether through traditional fintech rails or blockchain-based infrastructure, are likely to play an increasingly important role in the continent’s financial future.
For Checker, the bet is that stablecoins can become part of that future infrastructure layer, and with African fintech operators increasingly searching for faster settlement, better dollar access, and cheaper cross-border transfers, the company is entering the market at a moment when interest in alternative payment rails may be stronger than ever.
