By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In order to drive greater financial inclusion and prosperity across Africa, Interswitch has partnered with an enterprise blockchain infrastructure services company, Interstellar.
Interswitch said the long-term strategic partnership agreement is to jointly develop blockchain-powered infrastructure services and solutions.
The leading integrated payments and digital commerce solutions company said it will integrate Interstellar’s Blockchain technology stack (STARGATE) into its industry-leading payments and digital commerce technology.
Both companies have been preparing for the blockchain revolution in the African market with several ongoing initiatives including a Pan-African Payment Ecosystem (PAPE) powered by a private permissioned blockchain network which includes a consortium of Banks and Fintech players.
Interswitch has been at the forefront of major innovation milestones in payments in Nigeria for the last 20 years, garnering recognition along the line as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Africa (Deloitte Fast-Growth 50) and gaining acclaim as the first homegrown African Fintech Unicorn following a minority investment by Visa in late 2019. Today, Interswitch’s current business footprint covers more than 26 countries in Africa.
“We are excited to partner with Interstellar on this journey and we look forward to the amazing things we will achieve together in the African market.
“This new alliance underscores the directional evolution of our blockchain innovation strategy which is premised on our strategic intent of developing a native, proprietary enterprise-grade distributed ledger technology stack that is practically tailored to the African context.
“This enables us to progressively digitize multiple industry value-chains across African markets whilst also supporting the actualization of the Pan African Payment Ecosystem, riding the wave of opportunities created by such initiatives as the AfCFTA,” the Divisional Chief Executive Officer for Transaction Switching and Payment Processing at Interswitch, Mr Akeem Lawal, stated.
On his part, the founder and CEO of Interstellar, Mr Ernest Mbenkum, disclosed that, “We are delighted to have established this strategic partnership with Interswitch, one of Africa’s most valuable fintech businesses.
“This marks the genesis of an innovative and collaborative partnership aimed at delivering impact-focused and enterprise-grade blockchain-powered services across the African continent.”
Adedapo Adesanya 
Business Post Contributor