Digital payment firm, Klasha is ready to deepen Africa’s borderless payments for commerce.

Klasha, which started as a fashion e-commerce company, a Techstars backed company, said it has built payment integrations that allow African consumers to buy from global retailers online in their local African currencies and get their items shipped quickly to the continent.

Speaking recently, the Chief Executive Officer, Klasha, Jessica Anuna, said the firm’s solution helps merchants worldwide sell online to Africa and receive payments in local African currencies, while enjoying super-fast last-mile delivery to consumers across the region. She said consumers can make online payments regardless of where they are based geographically in Africa and where the retailers are based too.

According to her, logistics remain the largest challenge to cross border commerce, which Klasha is out to resolve. Getting this done, she explained that the firm has learnt a lot about consumers’ pain points online over the past few years, and “we are committed to solving these unique challenges. We have built a secure and reliable commerce solution from scratch using modern technologies.”

Anuna said the firm’s integrated technology solution – Klasha Checkout, can be integrated into any e-commerce platform, website or app, which allows international merchants to collect payments from Africa in local currencies. She said this ensures that consumers enjoy quick, cost-effective and direct shipping of physical goods from across the globe to their doorsteps.

“Making international payments online is very problematic, and more often than not, local bank debit cards do not work and are marked with restrictions. We have built the Klasha mobile app – a simple and secure app that allows you to make local and international payments online in your local African currencies without any restrictions.

“With the Klasha mobile app, you can send and receive money from family and friends who are using the app for free. No monthly charges or transfer fees. You can create a virtual card, fund it with NGN, KES or GHC, see all your transactions, including the amount paid, merchant details, card information and much more! The Klasha App is currently available for download in Nigeria on Android and iOS.”

Klasha, according to Anuna is live in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. The experience in Nigeria, she described as fantastic. She said this is still the biggest market in Africa, and the economic capital of the continent, which though, comes with its challenges, but has lots of advantages as well, going by the massive population size.

To her, one of the differences in Nigeria compared to other markets mentioned is the bigger market opportunity, which creates opportunities to make more money, because people are now coming online.

According to her, the continued devaluation of the Naira is impacting the business, which directly affects consumers buying capacity and subsequently leads to a drop in purchasing power. She added that slow internet in Africa also hinders the smooth operation of cross border commerce in the region.

On the operations of Klasha, Anuna said the firm ships to Africa in five to nine days when all processes have been rightly completed. “We have improved in technology, infrastructure and logistics. What we planned is that with African consumers becoming more sophisticated and demanding as they should be, their goods should be delivered timely, safely and cheap as it is being done on other continents. Africans deserve such an experience as well. They also need a flexible payment system, where they are assured that their cards are going to be accepted. This is what Klasha facilitates.”

“Our core mission is to give Africans the infrastructure they need to access the goods they want, when and in a timely manner. I have experienced frictionless eCommerce in other regions of the world, we are correcting that and we want to create the best-interconnected network of logistics for Africans to allow the region to enjoy the best service,” she stated.

We have learned a lot about consumers’ pain points online over the past few years, and we are committed to solving these unique challenges. We have built a secure and reliable commerce solution from scratch using modern technologies.