Performances
RD Popularity Index
RD Growth Index
Comparison
Fundraising
Follow Updates
Follow Lists
People
About AZA Finance
AZA Finance is a global payments and FX fintech company focused on African markets, founded in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013. Its core business is providing cross-border local currency payments, FX conversion, and settlement services for enterprises across African countries through an API and online trading platform, covering major African currencies such as Kenyan Shilling, Nigerian Naira, South African Rand, and Ghanaian Cedi, alongside international currencies like USD and EUR.
The company's core competitiveness lies in its deep localization capabilities: it holds payment licenses in multiple African countries and directly connects to local clearing systems, bypassing traditional correspondent banking chains to significantly reduce transfer costs and improve settlement speed. Its platform emphasizes single-API integration to access multiple African markets, offering 24/7 real-time trading, transparent FX quotes, and batch payment processing.
AZA Finance targets clear market pain points: cross-border payments in Africa have long suffered from poor currency liquidity, excessive intermediary bank layers, complex compliance requirements, and volatile exchange rates. By building proprietary local liquidity pools and compliance frameworks, the company helps enterprise clients resolve practical issues such as fund stagnation, high fees, and settlement uncertainty.
Regarding recent developments in the past six months (February to August 2026), no major business expansion or negative news has been publicly reported. The company continues to operate its existing services, but has not announced milestone product updates or new market entries. Over the past two years, AZA Finance has not been involved in significant regulatory penalties or client fund security incidents, maintaining stable operations overall.
Founded in Nairobi in 2013 as BitPesa, AZA Finance initially focused on enabling cross-border payments via digital currency. In 2019, the company rebranded as AZA Finance, reflecting a broader pan-African FX and treasury strategy. A key milestone came in 2021 with the acquisition of South Africa's Exchange4Free, which expanded its reach to 115 countries and solidified its position as the largest non-bank currency broker on the continent. In June 2025, AZA Finance agreed to be acquired by dLocal, a global cross-border payments platform, in a deal valued at around $150 million. This acquisition marked a strategic consolidation, enhancing dLocal's treasury operations, stablecoin coverage, and payout efficiency across Africa. Throughout its journey, AZA Finance has built Africa's largest trading desk for fiat and stablecoin FX, serving fintechs, banks, and NGOs.
Elizabeth Rossiello (Founder & CEO)
Elizabeth Rossiello is the founder and CEO of AZA Finance, a global payments and FX fintech company. She founded the company in Nairobi in 2013 (originally as BitPesa). Under her leadership, AZA Finance has expanded to serve over 2 million customers in 190+ countries, transacting $9 billion+ in funds. She co-chairs the World Economic Forum's Council on Blockchain and has been recognized as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst (2021) and listed on the Standout 45 Women in Fintech Powerlist (2022) and American Banker's Most Influential Women in Payments (2025). She holds an M.A. in International Business and Finance from Columbia University.