Brij Technologies Inc showed this week at the sidelines of the 3i Africa Summit in Accra, Ghana that gathered central bank governors, multilateral institutions, investors, and innovators to tap the potential of digital and Fintech in Africa development its BrijX solution that allows for direct currency exchange, person to person, without using the forex, credit cards or any other intermediary.
For citizens of Africa, it was a momentous achievement in lowering the barriers of costs that was putting an intra-African trade fortress for individuals as well as for SMEs.
This was due to the Innovation Sandbox initiated by the Bank of Ghana’s Office of Fintech and Innovation created a platform for testing of market-ready products, thus giving Brij an intermediate regulatory authority to connect Ghana with other approved countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana.
To solve this, Brij utilizes its relationships with the intermediary banks, mobile money (MoMo) providers, and Digital Credit management (DCM) locally in Ghana to connect with MTN, AT, and Telecel to achieve quick account transfers between MoMo accounts across borders through the touch of a button located on BrijX’s webpage or mobile app. BrijX can also be linked more closely with any MoMo platforms; therefore, clients can directly engage with it or through their MoMo solutions.
Currently from the Innovation stage, Majesty Hini, the chief engineer of Brij, was able to show a direct transition between the Ghana Cedi and the Nigerian Naira, then do it and in the reverse. He also shared how BrijX interfaces with Paybills. Africa is an online marketplace that harnesses millions of African local sellers across 22 nations. The ladies were allowed to participate by providing their phone number as a group shouted. Whenever there was a ‘ping’ of a mobile money transaction, the audience burst into cheers. Many spectators flocked to the Brij stand after that to download the application.
Executive Chairman of Brij, Dr. Aloy Chife, said: “Currently, all African cross border transactions require a USD conversion on each side, which leads to an annual loss of $5.3 billion in conversion fees. The Brij solution allows consumers to avoid these prohibitive costs.
“We are encouraged not only by the leadership of the Bank of Ghana, but also by the readiness of our multilateral partners including the African Development Bank and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to explore the incorporation of Brij’s technology into their respective efforts to expand the continent’s digital and financial interconnectivity.”
This latest BrijX presentation was preceded by the Africa Merchant Online Enrolment Road Show in Accra early this year by the United States Commercial Service of the United States Embassy to enrol in the first batch of Ghanaian merchants, onto its Paybills.Africa stage where Dean Matlack of the U. S Foreign Commercial Service said to the masses, “Ghana has well-deservingly earned the moniker of digitalization. However, the bridge between MoMo and regional trade integration is the enabler for cross border payments and that at that point saw the prospect of Brij and DCM using Ghana and other parts of Africa as the launching pad.”
