Entrepreneurship News and Headlines

Why Verifying a Business in Africa Is Harder than Moving Money

Cross‑border payments in Africa now settle in seconds, but verifying the counterpart business can take weeks. The delay stems from fragmented, offline national registries and a lack of cross‑border data harmonisation, creating a “registry gap” that hampers the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Recent FATF pressure forced South Africa and Nigeria to improve ultimate beneficial owner transparency, yet manual KYB processes still cost thousands per onboarding and exclude unregistered SMEs. Experts argue that only a continent‑wide digital identity framework can unlock real‑time trust and unleash AfCFTA’s trade potential.