TerraPay secures $95 million debt to finance low-cost remittance transactions across Africa

Bem Sonnen -

TerraPay, an Africa-focused digital payments provider, has recently raised $95 million in debt financing to boost low-cost remittance transactions across Africa to contribute to lowering remittance costs, improving reliability and faster transactions around the continent. 

The funding came from various investors, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), ILX, and the British International Investment (BII). 

$75 million of the debt facility came from IFC, including $30 million from a B Loan of $15 million provided by asset manager ILX under IFC’s B Loan Program, and a combined parallel loan of $30 million from development finance institutions OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I and BIO. The BII, UK development finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor will advance a $20 million senior secured loan. 

Due to the high remittance costs for transactions in sub-saharan African regions, TerraPay plans to use the funding to expand its operations to more global markets and money transfer operators, increasing the volume of transfers it processes across Africa. The expansion will help reduce the costs, simplify international remittance transfers and expand its operations to more global money transfer operators. 

Ambar Sur, TerraPay's Founder and CEO noted that their long-standing partnership with IFC has been vital, expanding their network, and enabling technological investments to solve real-world problems.

“Our association with IFC goes back a long way and as we continue our journey towards growth, their support continues to be invaluable. This has fueled our mission, enabling us to strengthen our infrastructure, expand our network and invest deeply in technology and solutions that solve real-world problems,” said Sur.

“As we deepen our partnership, I look forward to furthering our common vision to boost financial inclusion and accessibility, empowering families, individuals, and businesses across the African continent leveraging our vast global payments network.” Sur further stated.

TerraPay also plans to partner with Enza, the venture capitalist to accelerate financial inclusion. Enza executive director Andrew Key says the partnership will transform the experience of businesses across Africa, and believes it will bring many companies into the formal financial ecosystem for the first time.