African payment app NALA launches in the EU

By Gloria Metri

NALA, a Tanzanian FinTech company that enables payments to Africa, has expanded its presence in Europe by adding 19 new EU nations to its list of remittance markets.

NALA, which expanded into the UK and US last year, has experienced rapid growth through geographic expansion and product differentiation. The firm’s US launch hosted 6 members of parliament from Tanzania at the event in New York City. The EU expansion is one of many updates coming out of the company, including the launch of NALA For Business and recent integrations with Apple and Google Pay.

NALA is run by Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes, who is originally from Tanzania and has been working on mobile money payments in Africa for over 10 years. He created one of the first mobile money payment integrations for TV subscription services 10 years ago.

Fernandes commented: “The European economy is the third largest in the world and is home to more than a quarter of African immigrants. At NALA, our mission is to financially empower Africans around the world. The EU launch significantly expands our reach and ability to significantly innovate in the African payments space.

“Payments companies have traditionally relied on market expansion as the main driver for growth, which has led them to seek a broader geographic reach rather than value-add in their product. At NALA, we are precisely focused on building the payments company Africans deserve. This has led us to drive product innovation along with market expansion,” he added.

NALA is working to change the paradigm of financial tools for Africans by providing fair and transparent services to empower people with control of their finances. The app became available for download from most Eurozone countries on December 15 via the App Store or Play Store.

As the organization continues to grow, NALA currently has some former Google and Monzo employees on its team, leading and championing efforts to scale payments in Africa.