The Ripple investment will include a full integration of its stablecoin, a type of dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, into Flutterwave, adding to the available options for digital payment clients in Africa. The investment will also allow Flutterwave to integrate Ripple’s business-focused blockchain platform into its system.

The deal comes at a time of rising interest in stablecoins in Africa. Consumers face a constant threat of high inflation, readily exacerbated by external shocks such as the Iran war, triggering a demand for safe currency stores. Stablecoins are helping to fill this need, and also help to secure international remittance and allow for rapid payments, especially useful for businesses.

In Nigeria, which accounts for about 60% of stablecoin inflows into sub-Saharan Africa, the tokens have “offered both a hedge against currency risk and a tool for paying overseas suppliers,” IMF executives said this week. The global supply of stablecoins has grown 40-fold to more than $270 billion since 2020, which investors say underscores their “massive real-world applications in traditional finance” that go “far beyond crypto trading.”

In Africa, there is “real customer demand” for frictionless cross-border payments that can be completed in real time, a welcome alternative to multi-day waits generally required for international payments with traditional fiat currencies, Agboola said, adding that Flutterwave provides and will look to add other stablecoin payment options beyond Ripple. Last year, the firm enlisted US tech company Polygon Labs to be the default blockchain platform powering its consumer remittance product, Send App.