For a long time, banks had attempted to oversee foreign exchange in Nigeria which led to more problems and gave rise to the prevalence of the black market. This has taken a toll on consumers and businesses which have been susceptible to fraud and violence in the course of paying for goods and services, or sending money abroad. With the advent of technology, we have found smart solutions to many problems and perhaps it is no different for Forex, as TradeNAIRA a peer-to-peer currency exchange and e-money company founded by Martin Nwike, has emerged to bring about a sane forex climate in Nigeria. TradeNAIRA is committed to enabling users have access to a reliable, safe and efficient system while engaging in forex.
How It All Began
Martin was inspired to create TradeNAIRA after the recession of 2016 that affected many businesses and resulted in massive inflation. He, like many, had seen the importance disruptive technology in various sectors and he knew this was what forex in Africa needed to bounce irrespective of any economic crisis. After successfully establishing many successful businesses within a 10-year period, Martin was conversant with how detrimental an unstable forex system was to the livelihood of businesses. As a result, he launched TradeNAIRA in December 2018 to provide transparent currency exchange services across Africa including countries like Nigeria and Ghana.
Impacting Foreign Exchange Through Disruptive Technology
TradeNAIRA has successfully built a highly optimised currency exchange platform for those selling Naira and those buying Naira from around the world. This will result in an appreciation of the Naira that will incentivise those remitting money back to Nigeria as well as those who require access to forex for business purposes.
Achievements
Since TradeNAIRA began operations, it has signed up over 50,000 users and has been growing in leaps and bounds. Currently, users on the platform can trade in Nigerian Naira, Us Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, Ghana Cedis, and even bitcoin. They can also send money to each other through an online escrow service designed to make business and trade in Nigeria much safer and transparent. TradeNAIRA generates its revenue by charging users a withdrawal fee that ranges from 0.025% and 2% relying upon the volume of exchanges they make on a monthly basis.
With the rate at which forex has been mismanaged by banks in Nigeria, TradeNAIRA is poised to provide viable secure solutions for forex traders in Nigeria and in the diaspora. In Martin’s words, “One of the key ingredients needed for a prosperous and affluent African economy is Trust.
We’ve effectively created a platform where users can build trust within the community and therefore grow their businesses and operations as well as their reputations online.
Customers are protected by “buyer guarantee” offered by TradeNAIRA and sellers are able to get paid for their goods and services without worry of default or fraud.”
Martin plans to launch various other services within the year including an online escrow service, a project funding platform, and an online news service.
Featured image source: tradenaira.com