By Justina Okechukwu
Cedar Money, a cross-border fintech, has launched a new product called “Hold” to help African businesses get ahead of market pressures, particularly in the unpredictable nature of currency rates by allowing businesses hold deposits. Dayo Fagade, Director of Global Sales and Business Development at Cedar Money, told TechCabal on the sidelines of Moonshot by TechCabal that the product allows businesses to “hold funds and future-proof payments.”
The biggest challenge in the cross-border payment space, according to Fagade, is the “unpredictability of the markets.” He explained, “especially in one like Nigeria, it can be pretty unstable. That’s pretty much why we’ve launched our ‘Hold’ product, because the only way to get ahead of this is to kind of protect yourself before time proactively against the markets.”
This launch, a strategic extension of Cedar Money’s existing services, is coming months after the company raised a $9.9 million seed round for cross-border payments earlier this year. “What we have launched actually is just an extension of what we are already building,” Fagade clarified. “Payments are just a leg within the trade market in Africa, and what we are doing is to continue to deepen our roots within that space.”
For the rest of 2025, Cedar Money plans to deepen its presence in its current markets and expand into new currency corridors. The company also aims to leverage its extensive network of suppliers in Europe, China, and the US to build stronger connections for African businesses. “One strength that we have at Cedar Money is that we have a huge and strong network of suppliers outside of Africa,” Fagade said. “What we are doing is consolidating on those guys so that we can be a reference point for businesses out of Africa and building a connection between these guys as well.”