Grey CEO Idorenyin Obong says intra-African trade payments should bypass the dollar, as the fintech expands direct currency conversion routes
African businesses should be able to pay suppliers across the continent without routing transactions through the United States dollar, Grey co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Idorenyin Obong, has said, as the cross-border payments company expands its currency conversion infrastructure.
Obong made the remarks on Thursday, October 29, on the sidelines of Moonshot by TechCabal 2026, a two-day technology conference held at the National Theatre in Lagos.
He said reliance on intermediary currencies, particularly the dollar, adds complexity to transactions between African countries and can worsen existing foreign exchange liquidity challenges.
According to him, Grey has developed direct currency conversion routes that allow payments between selected African currencies without requiring businesses to convert their funds into dollars first.
“Most times, if you’re trading within Africa, there’s always some form of intermediary currency,” Obong said.
“We’ve built out these currency pairs, these exotic currency pairs, such that you never have to go in between to the USD.”
The issue is significant for businesses operating across African markets, where differences in currency availability, banking arrangements and payment infrastructure can make cross-border transactions expensive or unpredictable.
For example, a Nigerian company paying a supplier in Kenya may traditionally have to convert naira into dollars before exchanging the dollars for Kenyan shillings.
Each conversion introduces another stage in the transaction, potentially increasing costs and exposing the payment to additional delays.
Grey says its direct currency routes are designed to simplify that process by connecting supported currencies more efficiently.
The company said its payment infrastructure currently enables customers in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana to send and receive money, with liquidity arrangements supporting transactions in multiple currencies.
It also said payments can be settled in real time across several supported currencies.
However, the availability of direct routes does not mean that all African currencies can be exchanged freely or that every transaction will avoid dollar intermediation.
Currency coverage, liquidity and regulatory requirements remain important considerations in cross-border payments.
Obong identified foreign exchange liquidity and payment reliability as two of the biggest difficulties confronting businesses that trade internationally.
He said uncertainty over when suppliers will receive their money can disrupt procurement schedules and weaken commercial relationships.
Grey has therefore invested in infrastructure intended to improve the predictability of international payouts, including providing customers with estimated delivery times.
“We spent the last six years building the infrastructure to ensure that we’re delivering at the last mile at 99.99% to our customers,” Obong said.
He also disclosed that Grey had processed more than 40 million transactions and nearly $5bn in payments since the company began operations in 2020.
The company has expanded beyond individual currency exchange services into business payments and international salary management.
Its Grey Business platform, designed for startups and small businesses, has processed nearly $100m since launching in February, according to the company.
Grey previously reported that the business platform processed $61.4m in its first four months, with demand partly driven by stablecoin-based payments.
The fintech has also extended its payout services to China, allowing businesses to pay suppliers in Chinese yuan.
The expansion reflects its effort to serve companies whose international supply chains extend beyond African markets.
Grey’s development has followed changes in customer demand since its launch in 2020.
Obong said the company initially operated as a currency exchange service but discovered that many customers were primarily using the platform to receive salaries earned abroad.
“Most of our customers were using Grey to receive their foreign salary. And so we decided to build what I would call simply a salary account for these customers,” he said.
That shift led to Paycheck, a product that enables professionals earning in dollars, pounds and euros to receive and manage their salaries.
The service also integrates with Pouch, Grey’s savings feature, which allows users to set aside money for goals such as education, travel and major purchases.
The company’s expansion comes amid wider efforts to improve financial connectivity across African markets.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to create a more integrated continental market, has made trade facilitation, payment systems and currency-related barriers important parts of the conversation about intra-African commerce.
One initiative in this area is the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), developed to facilitate cross-border payments in local African currencies.
The system is intended to reduce reliance on third-party currencies and make intra-African trade payments more efficient.
Grey’s direct currency routes address a related challenge through its own commercial payment infrastructure, although the company’s services and PAPSS are separate initiatives with different operating models.
Obong’s comments also came as the company faced questions about customer experiences, including difficulties accessing foreign currency accounts and obtaining support.
Grey said it provides round-the-clock digital assistance and operates a physical office, while maintaining that online support is more effective for directing customer complaints to its distributed teams.
Grey was the headline sponsor of Moonshot by TechCabal 2026, held on October 28 and 29 in Lagos.
The conference brought together technology companies, investors, entrepreneurs and other industry participants to discuss innovation, investment and business opportunities across Africa.
For Grey, the ambition is to make international payments less complicated for businesses and individuals.
Its push towards direct currency conversion reflects a broader question facing African commerce: how much more efficiently could companies trade across the continent if paying a supplier did not routinely require passing through the dollar?
