How a Tuition Fee Crisis Sparked an African Payment Infrastructure Pioneer

Betaling’s origin story exemplifies how real-world friction often breeds the most resilient solutions. What began as a student liquidity network in Kenya has evolved into a formidable B2B payment platform serving businesses across Africa.

The company was founded by Oluwatomisin Ashimolowo, who arrived in Kenya from Nigeria in 2013 to pursue his university studies. He quickly encountered a common problem for African students abroad: tuition fees couldn’t be reliably transferred. International banks often blocked transactions or delayed them for weeks.

The Scrappy Beginning

Initially, students crowdsourced solutions by asking travelers from Lagos to carry US dollars in cash. Ashimolowo saw an opportunity to create a more sustainable system by matching expatriates needing Naira with Nigerian students requiring dollars—essentially building a trust-based remittance pipeline through WhatsApp and spreadsheets.

This informal network proved remarkably resilient, even weathering attempts by larger institutions like Ecobank to solve the problem with subsidized rates that ultimately proved unsustainable. As Ashimolowo observed, “Consistency in pricing beats competitive entry pricing every time.”

Expanding Beyond Student Payments

By 2019, Betaling’s user base had diversified beyond students. Businesses discovered the network as a reliable way to settle cross-border transactions—particularly for importers and SMEs struggling with traditional banking inefficiencies.

The founders formally incorporated in 2020 after processing millions in volume through their informal channels, bringing in Emmanuel Abiodun Oladepo (who was independently building a parallel network) and Seye Obadeyi (an industry veteran who understood the limitations of legacy banking).

The Underlying Philosophy

Betaling’s approach emphasizes building trust through reliable service rather than short-term price wars—a philosophy rooted in Ashimolowo’s experience watching other fintechs gain users with subsidized rates only to lose them when those rates inevitably increased.

The company now settles millions in volume, providing essential liquidity for businesses across Africa and demonstrating how solutions born from real-world pain points can create lasting impact.