Andrew Takyi-Appiah: Enabling international remittances as Founder of Zeepay

Andrew Takyi-Appiah is the founder of Zeepay, a payment infrastructure company operating in more than 20 countries of the world.

Zeepay is an indigenous African brand that has proved true indeed that technology has democratized the world and quickened the pace of globalization.

Even though the fintech originated out of Ghana, it has managed to grow its footprint into other parts of the world, making it an African business success story in the 21st century.

In fact, Zeepay has done enough to prove that when the strategy is good, international expansion for fintech companies becomes a lot easier than imagined.

Presently, the brand boasts of mobile money licenses and approvals in six countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Zambia, and Barbados in the Caribbean, while license applications are pending for three African countries and three Caribbean markets.

This puts the brand toe-to-toe with other global mobile money brands in Africa.

Dratech International celebrates Andrew Takyi-Appiah as one of those giants within the industry who, through his influence, changed the outlook and stabilized the Fintech sector.

This article highlights the achievement of Andrew Takyi-Appiah and how he influenced Africa’s financial technology space. Let’s dive into it.

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Andrew Takyi-Appiah`s Background

Andrew Takyi-Appiah is a Ghanaian entrepreneur and FinTech innovator, founder of Zeepay, a leading platform in mobile money and remittances.

Coming from a background in banking and financial services, he realized the high level of challenges facing remittance flows in Africa: their cost was very high, and their accessibility for underserved populations was quite limited.

What is unique about him is his determination to use technology to democratize financial services, so seamless mobile transactions reach wallets and accounts directly.

Mr. Ansah’s leadership vision has grown Zeepay’s operations into 20 countries, making it a key player in driving financial inclusion for Africa.

Challenges in cross-border payments

A decade ago, Zeepay was born into the market to fill a gap in cross-border payments with the view of reducing the cost of remittances, which at the time averaged from 10-15% of the principal amount sent.

It’s indigenous to Africa, and a non-telco. Except for the mobile money licenses, Zeepay is present in more than 20 markets on the continent, where it also leverages remittance termination.

This has not been easy. It requires high leadership from the CEO, Andrew Takyi-Appiah, who surmounted many problems and stiff competition just to get such a dream realized.

Its mandate, at the point of inception, was to work with remittance service providers by directly enabling them to make payments into digital assets such as mobile money wallets, bank accounts, and both debit and pre-paid cards.

Disrupting Traditional Remittance Models

Zeepay is a fully Ghanaian-owned Fintech that began operations in Ghana in May 2016.

The brand, at the time, was set up to facilitate financial inclusion in Ghana through the use of its fintech rails.

Largely leveraging digital assets such as mobile money wallets, bank accounts, VISA Cards, and Automated Teller Machines for terminating remittances.

Until 2016, one could only go to Banks to collect cash abroad.

This procedure is quite cumbersome and tiring at times, as it may take days besides the fact that receivers in the sub-urban and rural sectors have to travel long distances to redeem their transfers.

One thing exciting about Zeepay is the fact that, at this time, the brand brought a new idea where now remittance senders can send directly to mobile money wallets.

The first of its kind to do so commercially as a disruptor under the auspices of the Central bank.

It was, in fact, the first for the Regulator to work with a local FinTech to enable such new innovation.

Zeepay’s Growth Journey

Successfully, Zeepay grew traffic from approximately 386 transactions in 2016 to about 2.4 million transactions in 2020.

Mostly, this growth has largely been attributed to aggressive marketing, partnerships, and disrupted marketing campaigns by Zeepay.

In 2019, Zeepay was induced into Global Brands and was awarded “fastest-growing payment service provider.”.

Evidence of how superlatively outstanding they were, in March 2020 they became the first non-telco and non-bank mobile money license receiver from the Bank of Ghana.

This further nailed them as leaders in the financial technologies industry when they then became the first company in the same space to be granted such a license.

It grew to become one of the outstanding brands in Ghana. For every brand to stand the test of time, it must be able to adapt to the ever-changing environment and the needs of the clients.

And it takes a management team with foresight to be able to visualize such needs and develop a product or service that will provide solutions. This is exactly what the brains behind Zeepay did.

Andrew Takyi-Appiah: Visionary Leadership in Fintech

Under his leadership and clear strategic vision, Zeepay strategically positioned itself as one of the leading fintech companies extending operations from Ghana into over 20 countries worldwide.

As founder and the driving force behind Zeepay, Andrew had been focused on leveraging mobile technology to democratize financial services and improve remittance flows across Africa and the Caribbean.

His ingenuity thus far has helped Zeepay attain mobile money licenses in several countries, allowing the platform to offer seamless cross-border payments among other financial services.

Under his leadership, Zeepay has managed not only to beat the trends related to remittances within the African continent but also to set a very good example of what an African fintech expansion can look like.

His dream of financial inclusion and digitally available financial access to the underserved population has been forming the growth and influence of Zeepay within the global Fintech ecosystem.

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Future of Fintech: Zeepay’s Vision for Expansion

Andrew Takyi-Appiah`s name means more to the African tech ecosystem than just the phenomenal success of Zeepay in mobile money and remittances.

He has inspired new African entrepreneurs with his story of how an indigenous African fintech company can scale globally.

He focuses on financial inclusions, especially among underprivileged people, which further brings to light the power of fintech in bridging economic gaps across the continent.

His leadership further positioned Africa to be the go-to partner in the global sphere of fintech, with innovation and collaboration at the forefront across the African and Caribbean regions, proving to the world that indeed Africa can lead in tech-powered financial solutions.

As an innovative company Zeepay has started planning for the future already as the company is positioning itself for global dominance and is currently in partnership with Visa international to deploy visa direct across the continent.

This will enable remittance senders to send money to all bank accounts across the continent in real time online mode, while further disrupting the remittance receive sector again.

FAQs

What is Andrew Takyi-Appiah’s main contribution to fintech?

Andrew Takyi-Appiah co-founded Zeepay, a leading fintech company that provides mobile money and remittance services across Africa and the Caribbean, promoting financial inclusion.

How has Zeepay expanded under his leadership?

Zeepay operates in over 20 countries, with mobile money licenses in six African and Caribbean nations, demonstrating successful international expansion.

What is Zeepay’s focus?

Zeepay focuses on providing mobile financial services, particularly remittances, to underserved populations in Africa and beyond.

How has Andrew impacted Africa’s tech ecosystem?

By scaling Zeepay globally, Andrew has set a precedent for African fintech startups, fostering innovation and encouraging international growth.

Conclusion

Andrew Takyi-Appiah’s leadership has been the reason for many telling impacts on the African Tech ecosystem.

He has changed mobile financial services with Zeepay, a firm that has provided access to inclusive financial solutions to underbanked and unserved communities in Africa and the Caribbean.

From strategic positioning, international expansion has not only presented Zeepay as one of the leading global fin-techs but also proved that African startups can play on the world stage.

As Zeepay continues to grow, the contribution by Andrew will go a long way in fostering financial inclusion, driving innovation, and helping shape the future of digital payments in Africa and beyond.