Nigeria’s Raenest buys UK payments firm Remitise to expand overseas operations

Nigerian cross-border payments company Raenest has acquired Remitise, a UK payments business registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, as it seeks greater control over the infrastructure supporting its international services. Raenest announced the transaction on 10 November without disclosing the purchase price.

The acquisition adds a British corporate and regulatory presence to Raenest’s operations. The company says it already holds an international money transfer operator licence in Nigeria and relevant money-services registrations in Canada.

Raenest operates payment and foreign-currency services aimed at individuals and businesses receiving or sending money across countries. Owning a payments company in the UK could allow it to develop relationships with financial institutions and build some services on infrastructure it controls more directly.

However, acquiring a registered business does not automatically authorise all of the buyer’s existing products in the UK, nor does it eliminate the need for banking partners, safeguards or regulatory approvals. The services Raenest can offer will depend on the scope of Remitise’s actual permissions and any subsequent approvals.

The deal underscores a wider strategy among African financial-technology companies to build payment corridors by investing in overseas infrastructure. For customers, the relevant measures will be service availability, transaction costs, reliability and how the firm protects funds across the countries in which it operates.

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