This article was contributed by Moyo Oluwatoyi, a Brand Storyteller at Kora, Eric Wainaina, General Manager, Conduit and James Cope, CEO CrissCross as part of the Emerging Trends in Cross-Border Payments: A Growth Guide for Stakeholders report authored by Aroghene Favour Ndulu and Paschal Okeke.
A key marketing strategy for driving cross-border payment solutions in Africa has been leveraging existing payment methods/channels such as mobile money; local fintechs and banks have been clear winners in driving both paying and payouts. This has been a clear winner in quicker GTM and ultimately winning business for local and global companies looking to expand into the space.
Another tactic is partnering with local and pan-African fintech influencers to promote products. Expanding into new markets is a common challenge: customers in those regions don’t know your brand yet, making it harder to earn their trust and attention. Collaborating with influencers with strong connections with your target audience can solve this problem. While this approach isn’t always the first thought in B2B marketing, it works.
A great example is LemFi. Whenever they enter a new market, they team up with local influencers who are trusted voices in their community. This helps LemFi build awareness and credibility faster than traditional advertising campaigns could.
The main thing here is to be deliberate, choose influencers whose audience aligns with your product, and create campaigns that feel genuine and relevant to the local culture.
Tailoring messages to unique audiences
Customise your messaging to align with each market’s language and cultural context. The continent is diverse, with people responding differently to marketing strategies based on cultural and behavioural nuances.
One growth expert noted, “Some markets are more push than pull.” In other words, aggressive approaches may work in some regions but fail in others. To succeed, you need to understand how to communicate effectively with the audience in each country.
For example, in Cameroon, where both French and English are spoken, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t resonate. Similarly, incorporating Swahili into your messaging in Uganda shows you’ve done your homework. Relying solely on English because you’re a Nigerian brand limits your impact. To grow, you need to think like a pan-African brand; your messaging must reflect that mindset.
LemFi demonstrates this approach. A quick look at their Instagram page shows how they tailor content for each market, balancing local language and cultural relevance.
The role of thought leadership
Thought leadership plays a critical role in the market education of regulators and other stakeholders by breaking down the complexity of the industry and the many nodes around it. Most cross-border businesses are treated as remittance companies, yet they provide a different solution than what remittance companies offer. As such, thought leadership plays the role of demystifying this complexity, thus building confidence and trust.
People buy from those they trust. And trust isn’t built on surface-level information; it’s built on actual knowledge and thought leadership. Sharing your unique perspective, the lessons you’ve learned, and the strategies that have worked for you differentiates you.
Founder-led and expert-driven content cuts through the noise because it offers something Al can’t: authenticity, depth, and a personal touch. Something like this report.
Measuring success for growth campaigns
The metrics for evaluating fintech campaigns often depend on the brand, its business model, and the campaign’s specific objectives. However, some metrics consistently provide valuable insights.
The most important measure of the success of a payment initiative is total payment volume. In the cross-border space, revenue can be driven by several external factors, so isn’t always the best gauge of performance. Consistent volume growth is a better measure of the relevance of a solution. There should also be appropriate monitoring of client numbers and margins.
Partnerships and collaborations
Partnering with market leaders in each market – regional or in-country plays a critical role. From elements such as insights into consumer behaviour, regulatory requirements, and market nuances to more important technical elements such as API integrations is a clear winning formula.
Telco partnerships – all telcos are looking towards remittance and B2B cross-border payments as a growth lever for their business. They are an excellent channel for client acquisition and an effective distribution channel for fintech solutions for cross-border solutions.
Key findings from a survey on growth strategies for 2025
Below are the results from a study on diverse payment stakeholders from payment companies across Africa. Their varied perspectives offer a comprehensive view of the growth strategies for 2025. What will be the most effective growth strategy for cross-border payments in 2025?
Insights: According to our respondents, the top three strategies to drive growth in 2025 are partnerships, localised marketing campaigns, and leveraging blockchain for payments.
Partnerships aid expansion and reduce operations costs, localised messaging ensures marketing communications resonate with the target audience, while blockchain will make payments faster and cheaper.
Marketing channels to drive the most growth for cross-border payments in 2025
Insights: Growth marketers need influencers to drive growth for B2C brands. Content is king for B2B cross-border marketing; biogs, whitepapers, e-books, and more to position help to position products for growth. Other top channels are affiliate and performance marketing.
Top tactics for customer acquisition for cross-border payments in 2025
Insights: To acquire new users in 2025, founders and product managers must ensure that their products provide fast transactions, competitive transaction fees, and multicurrency payment options. Enhanced security and fraud measures will also impact customer perception and trust.
You can read the full report here.
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Moyo Oluwatoyi, a Brand Storyteller at Kora. Moyo has Over six years, he has specialised in crafting clear, compelling narratives about complex products — from fintech infrastructure to enterprise software. He enjoys making technical concepts simple and exciting.
Eric Wainaina is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with over a decade of experience in fintech, startups, and digital transformation across Africa. He currently serves as the General Manager for Africa at Conduit, a cross-border payments platform, where he leads the company’s expansion efforts across the continent.
James Cope, CEO, CrissCross. James has spent more than 10 years working in FX and cross-border payments, with a particular focus on using technology to build new propositions in emerging markets.
