In my work as the Growth Manager of SympliFi, I have had the opportunity to meet some of our users in person (both in the U.K. and in Nigeria). In fact when we were new, I knew every one of them and the constant thing I have realized is how much Nigerians in the diaspora want to support people back in Nigeria. They really want to. However, they also want to be able to save and to be sure that the support they send back to Nigeria is being used productively.

While there are people back in Nigeria who constantly demand for money from friends and family abroad, there are people in Nigeria who want to stand on their own, but need a little help to do so. Like Mojisola, one of our users in Nigeria.

There are several use cases that I have come across - a man in the U.K. helping his friend in Nigeria access affordable loans to help his business stay afloat in the pandemic; a man in the U.K. helping his cousin access a line of credit to grow his  business. This second use case is mind blowing as we witnessed the exponential growth the business was able to achieve in a short period of time because of access to affordable credit.

Sending money back home is not the problem, truthfully that will never stop, the question we should ask is WHY are we sending money?

If I need to give my grandmother money to contribute to her local Methodist church, fix her leaking roof or buy her favourite fabric, I will do so with all pleasure. However, if my sibling or friend needs money to start or grow their small business, what they really need is access to credit and not me sending money.

Yes, Nigerians love to support their people back home, but they also want to save money and live a good life in their country of residence. This is why SympliFi exists. People should not have to choose between saving and supporting the people they care about back home.