As AZA Finance prepares to join forces with the Uruguayan giant dLocal, its founder, Elizabeth Rossiello, discusses with Financial Afrik the strategic stakes of this acquisition, the expected synergies on the continent, and the future of the African fintech sector.
in-depth conversation driven by a single ambition: to make cross-border finance frictionless for underserved African markets.
Could you briefly introduce AZA Finance, its history, mission, and operational structure?
I started the company in Nairobi in 2013 as BitPesa. We initially used digital currency and mobile money to scale cross-border payments in Africa. As our volume of transactions grew, we expanded beyond cryptocurrencies to offer a comprehensive suite of foreign exchange (FX) and payment solutions across major African and G20 currencies. By 2019, we rebranded as AZA Finance to reflect our expanded offerings and broader focus on facilitating financial transactions in frontier markets. Our mission is to accelerate economic growth in Africa by providing accessible and efficient fintech for cross-border payments, foreign exchange, and treasury services. We’ve made this possible through both our payments API and our web platform.
It was recently announced that the Uruguayan fintech dLocal is considering acquiring AZA Finance. Can you explain the strategic context of this operation?
In 11 years, we have built the most extensive and efficient trading desk for foreign exchange of fiat and stablecoins in Africa. This provides liquidity in African and G20 currencies to global fintechs, businesses, banks, telcos, and NGOs. Joining dLocal connects us to even more markets through their massive global platform, creating more opportunities for our clients — pending regulatory approval of the acquisition, of course.
Why did you choose dLocal as the acquiring partner, and how did the negotiations evolve?
AZA and dLocal actually formed a strategic partnership earlier this year, expanding the service offerings of both organizations through a cross-selling strategy – including better payment processing, increased reach, and enhanced financial services. It was a natural choice: dLocal’s robust cross-border payment infrastructure and our capabilities in foreign exchange and regional licensing network complement each other perfectly. The acquisition would allow us to bring more efficient cross-border payments to a larger number of businesses. I cannot provide more details on the negotiations as we are still awaiting regulatory approval, but I can say that dLocal’s leadership is fully committed to Africa and frontier markets. It is a pleasure to collaborate with them as strategic partners.
How do you plan to integrate AZA’s technology stack, platforms, and teams into dLocal’s organization?
At AZA, we’ve always believed that successful integration is about preserving what works while leveraging the strengths of a larger platform. One such aspect here is our team — all of whom will be staying on, pending regulatory approval of the deal. This is great for maintaining institutional knowledge and efficiency.
We will have more to say on integration later on, but the priority is remaining online, efficient, and without interruption for all of our customers. Over time, every client/customer of dLocal and AZA would enjoy access to a broader global network. Both of our companies are focused on frontier markets — integration should be seamless, given our alignment on strategy and mission.
What synergies do you expect, especially in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, to accelerate presence and adoption?
These are markets where we’ve spent years building deep liquidity and trust. For example, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy but also one of its most complex for foreign exchange. AZA’s proprietary engine already optimizes USD/NGN liquidity. With dLocal’s global merchant base, I predict that Nigerian businesses will be able to access faster settlements and broader payout options.
For Kenya, it’s the expansion of service, especially with mobile money. AZA’s direct integrations mean dLocal can now offer global merchants instant KES payouts,something even big players struggle with. This is a game-changer for gig platforms, SaaS, and e-commerce companies.
In South Africa, AZA’s rails simplify both foreign exchange of ZAR as well as fast, low-cost ZAR payouts. Connecting more businesses and trading partners with this service means even more volume coming to South African businesses.
How do you see this acquisition enhancing your social impact and financial inclusion efforts across African communities?
Being acquired by dLocal would mean an acceleration of the mission we’ve championed since AZA’s founding: to make cross-border finance frictionless for underserved African markets.
There are many ways we could enhance our impact further, but two I am particularly excited about are financial stability for entrepreneurs and job creation. The ability to get paid on time and exchange between currencies quickly is a lifeline to businesses everywhere — but especially in Africa, where settlement and exchange can be high friction. Being able to expand frictionless settlement and connect more markets is key.
Additionally, this acquisition is a great data point for other fintechs scaling in Africa (or wanting to expand to the continent). It sends a clear message that building in and for African markets is both viable and valuable, creating real opportunities for growth, innovation, and local impact.
Could you share your view on key fintech trends in Africa right now, such as stablecoins usage, mobile-money interoperability, or SME treasury innovation, and how AZA + dLocal will respond to them?
Three trends that are shaping African fintech right now are stablecoins, virtual account creation, and using AI for compliance checks.
On stablecoins: we’ve known for some time these are helpful for facilitating cross-border trade. But their real utility hinges on having seamless off-ramps to local currencies. AZA has painstakingly built this infrastructure over the years (always in regions with appropriate regulatory approvals/licensing), and having more of these off-ramps means businesses could instantly receive spendable fiat currencies as the result of stablecoin intra-country or international transfers. Stablecoins also help solve for dollar liquidity crunches, which can significantly increase FX costs.
What assurances are you offering to long-standing AZA clients regarding seamless service continuity and maintained service quality? And what your major objectives in the coming months?
We want to assure our clients that their FX and payments services will continue without interruption and, pending regulatory approval of the dLocal acquisition, our clients can expect even better options and support. For example, with more payout/pay-in options and more competitive rates.
Overall, though, we are assuring our clients that there will be no interruption to their operations, not even to their account manager/point of contact. The priority remains the seamless and efficient operation of their business (and thus, their payments, settlement, and foreign exchange).
We remain strategic partners and continue to push forward with this work to bring our clients/customers even better pricing and services for their cross-border payments. Otherwise, we will remain focused on our individual objectives until we receive regulatory approval of the acquisition being able to go forward.
