Afriex – Doubling Your Money to Ethiopia

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The money transfer app is offering a 2x bonus on every transfer. That means for every $1 USD you send, recipients will get $110 birr, doubling the standard exchange rate for a limited time!

With Ethiopian New Year around the corner, each dollar you send back home carries twice the impact thanks to Afriex, an instant money transfer app minus the fees. To celebrate the launch of its services to Ethiopia, the app is providing users with 2x bonus for a limited time, doubling their money at each transaction.

While the standard exchange rate is about ETB55.00 for every $1.00 USD, recipients will get ETB110.00 for every $1.00 USD transferred. The rate will fluctuate to match the standard exchange rate, times two. On top of that, users can expect transfers to reach Ethiopia within three minutes.

The strong relationships Afriex has built with local banks in Ethiopia guarantee the quick service. “Those banks automatically pay the transaction as soon as you press send because they know that Afriex has already collected the money for them,” says Founder Tope Alabi. There is a limit of $1,000 per transaction and up to $5,000 per day, but app users can request higher limits.

“I was paying for my living expenses with money that was in my US bank account. It was so expensive, and it took so long that I decided I could build a better service myself.”
-Tope Alabi, Founder of Afriex

“We recognize that many of these transfers are being used for health care bills and emergencies,” explains Tope. “We wanted to ensure that if your family is in a tight spot, you can be the hero and come through for them within minutes.”

Tope, who knows a thing or two about coming through for family, moved to Houston at the age of nine and saw his mother regularly send funds to Nigeria at a time when they didn’t have much money. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Dallas before working at various software companies in Silicon Valley as a software developer.

“Throughout my career, I always dreamt of going back home to do something for my people,” says Tope.

Driven by this aspiration, in 2019 he quit his job and moved back to Africa. While living in Africa, Tope witnessed firsthand the frustrations of receiving money from overseas. “I was paying for my living expenses with money that was in my US bank account. It was so expensive, and it took so long that I decided I could build a better service myself.”

In January 2020, Afriex first launched in Nigeria and has been growing since. The money transfer system now services eight different countries in Africa with the goal of adding more.

“We were lucky to launch during COVID at a time when people couldn’t go outside so digital payments became a much more popular option for sending money.” The timing of the launch also meant recruiting a global and brilliant staff while saving money on office costs.

With goals of expanding the service worldwide, Afriex successfully raised capital from some of the most respected investors in Silicon Valley and around the globe. These investors also finance other big companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash.

Tope advises other entrepreneurs to hone their story and tell it in a compelling way. “Most investors are not making the decision alone, so they need to be able to tell your story to their colleagues, and that story needs to be simple and compelling enough to travel well.”

Before Afriex received its first yes from an investor, they got at least 60 rejections, but that didn’t deter the startup backed by a meaningful purpose.

“Our vision is a world where anyone can build wealth no matter where they live, and we are contributing by building a simple and seamless banking experience for immigrants sending money home.”

To learn more, visit Afriex.