The remittances business in Africa is big, but also broken. More than 30 million Africans live in the diaspora, sending home more than $40 billion each year. Each migrant sends on average $1 200 annually. Yet this market has essentially been a duopoly for years. Western Union and MoneyGram control between them 50% or more of the remittance market in most Sub-Saharan African countries. Costs are high. Migrants pay an average of 12.3% in fees to send home $200. Total annual fees amount to $1.4 billion.

These high costs negatively impact spending power of recipients and remitters, and hurts businesses trying to transact in various markets. Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel recently branded the whole setup a 'super-racket'. But help is at hand from innovative technologies.