Redtech, a Nigerian payments‑technology firm, announced plans to build a digital payments bridge that will connect Kenya’s roughly 58 million residents with Nigeria’s over 200 million people, targeting individuals and small businesses in both markets.

The company says the corridor will address the current reliance on foreign intermediaries, which can add days and extra costs to cross‑border transfers.

Redtech’s CEO Emmanuel Ojo explained that differing technical standards – essentially incompatible APIs – act like mismatched railway gauges, forcing payments to be off‑loaded and re‑loaded at borders, lengthening settlement times.

Settlement delays vary across Africa; some markets clear within 24 hours while others take three to four days, and Ojo noted that payments sometimes route through the United States or Europe before returning to the continent, stretching processing to up to three days.

To simplify onboarding, Redtech proposes a single verification process that would allow a business to operate across multiple African jurisdictions without repeating due‑diligence checks in each country.

The firm cites its 2025 processing volume of more than $20 billion – about ₦30 trillion – as a foundation for scaling the new corridor.

Redtech will initially rely on partnerships, such as its link with United Bank for Africa that provides access to 20 African markets, before establishing its own legal entities and seeking licences country by country, a process that can take a year or more.

In Kenya, the launch will focus on payment and collection tools for micro, small and medium enterprises, leveraging the country’s strong mobile‑money ecosystem where M‑Pesa holds about 89 % of subscriptions.

Redtech expects the first Kenyan product to be available by the end of the first quarter of 2027, initially through undisclosed local partners and with a limited feature set.

The company has not yet disclosed the status of its regulatory engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya or the identities of its Kenyan partners, leaving the licensing timeline uncertain.