By Segun Adeyanju
Twin entrepreneurs Eddie Ndichu and Paul Ndichu have transformed personal struggle and years of banking experience into a fast-growing fintech venture, WapiPay, aimed at simplifying cross-border payments between Africa and the rest of the world.
Based in Nairobi, the company was founded to address the high cost and slow pace of international money transfers, particularly between Africa and Asia. The founders say traditional payment channels often take several days and charge as much as 10-15 percent in fees.
The Ndichu twins’ journey began with hardship. At age 18, they moved to Australia to study at Curtin University and Murdoch University. Just two months into their studies, their father, the family’s main provider died, leaving them without financial support.
To remain in school, the brothers took on multiple jobs, including cleaning shopping malls and factory work, before upgrading their skills to earn better wages. The experience, they say, shaped their resilience and understanding of financial survival.
Before launching WapiPay, both brothers held senior roles in banking and fintech. Paul worked with institutions including Stanbic Bank Kenya and Safaricom, while Eddie helped build digital banking and mobile payment systems at Standard Chartered and KCB Group.
Their experience exposed a major gap: while local mobile payments such as M-PESA had transformed domestic transactions, cross-border payments remained slow and dependent on legacy networks like SWIFT.
To solve the problem, the twins quit their jobs and invested their savings to build WapiPay. The company initially experimented with digital wallet transfers before pivoting to a business-to-business payment model that deposits funds directly into bank accounts.
Today, WapiPay operates across several markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Singapore, and the founders say the company has already reached profitability.
Looking ahead, the brothers aim to build a globally competitive African fintech platform using technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, while improving financial access across emerging markets.
