Nukkleus Taps Tantel to Expand Cross-Border B2B Payments in Africa

Blockchain/payments firm Nukkleus has teamed with Tantel Group to expand its footprint in Africa.

The partnership, which involves Nukkleus’ subsidiary Digital RFQ (DRFQ), will help Nukkleus tap into Africa’s $1.5 trillion B2B payments market.

“This collaboration aims to address the challenges of costly, slow, and unreliable cross-border payments in Africa, factors that have hindered economic growth in the region,” the company said in a news release Monday (Jan. 22).

The companies said the partnership aims to combine DRFQ’s technology with Tantel’s local expertise to transform Africa’s payment infrastructure, improving transaction efficiency, lowering costs, enhancing reliability and overcoming foreign exchange limitations.

“Our integrated approach prioritizes execution speed and privacy, fostering the growth of online transactions and digital wallets while reducing friction in Africa’s payments landscape,” said Emil Assentato, CEO of Nukkleus.

“As Africa’s electronic payment market continues to grow, this collaboration with Tantel Group represents a significant step in our strategy to expand our services and influence across the continent, which we anticipate will result in substantially increased transaction volume for DRFQ,” Assentato added.

The partnership comes as merchants around the world deal with the limitations on cross-border payment systems.

While online commerce carries a number of risks related to payments failure, PYMNTS Intelligence data has found that “online trading in international markets carries higher risks and greater exposure to payments frictions than solely operating in the U.S. domestic market.”

That research showed that, on average, American businesses experienced failures on roughly 11% of online transactions they processed over the last year. This represents a potential impact of roughly $89 billion of retail online sales during the three first quarters of 2023, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The failed payments rate is markedly higher among those online businesses operating internationally. Specifically, seven out of 10 U.S. businesses said they experienced higher rates of failed payments in cross border sales compared to domestic sales, the research showed. 

“This underscores the need for businesses to implement effective mechanisms and screening tools to prevent fraud and minimize payment frictions, ultimately enhancing payment experience and customer retention,” PYMNTS wrote.

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