Eversend is a near-super app for cross-border payments and crypto buying and selling. The company, which co-founder Atwine has described as Africa’s leading “FX startup”, also offers USD, euro and GBP wallets, and virtual cards. The startup is building APIs to power collections, payouts, and currency exchanges via stablecoins for other fintechs.

For young Nigerians, stablecoins offer the convenience of having a dollar account without going through the hassle of opening a domiciliary account, which requires two references who are currency account holders and regular KYC.

For Africans who struggle to send or receive money across national borders, hedging against inflation is a secondary concern.

The bigger challenge is navigating the complex and often frustrating process of getting the dollars or euros required to purchase manufacturing input, agricultural produce, or finished goods in a neighbouring country.

Using global stablecoins like USDT is the low-hanging fruit, but it does not really remove the dominance of the dollar.

CBDCs are problematic because of concerns that they give the government near unfettered control over private money, especially in Africa where they have come on the back of—largely unsuccessful attempts—to ban crypto activity.

For now, solutions like Eversend that leverage global stablecoins have the advantage of driving these payments. Their biggest challenge, however, will be convincing informal traders to ditch physical dollars for smartphone wallets.