Flutterwave has announced a strategic partnership with Tempo, a blockchain network focused on payments, to advance stablecoin-powered payments and settlements across the continent.
The partnership will see Tempo integrated as a blockchain settlement network within Flutterwave’s Send App and Flutterwave for Business (F4B) platforms. By leveraging blockchain technology, the two companies aim to facilitate faster, more efficient cross-border money transfers once the infrastructure is fully operational.
The collaboration comes as Africa continues to grapple with some of the world’s highest remittance costs. According to the World Bank, remittance fees to sub-Saharan Africa average about 7%, exceeding the global average of 6% and falling well above the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%.
In addition to high costs, traditional cross-border payment systems often rely on complex correspondent banking networks and foreign exchange processes, resulting in settlement delays that can stretch over several days. These inefficiencies can restrict liquidity and place pressure on businesses and households that depend on timely transactions.
To address these challenges, Flutterwave is integrating Tempo’s layer-one blockchain network into its broader multi-chain payments infrastructure, complementing its existing Polygon-based stablecoin settlement capabilities. Once deployed, the solution will support wallet-to-wallet USDC and USDT transactions, enabling faster settlements, greater network reliability, and more predictable transaction fees.
Tempo will serve as an additional settlement layer within Flutterwave’s blockchain payments ecosystem, providing more flexibility across selected payment corridors while reinforcing the company’s ongoing commitment to stablecoin-powered payment solutions.
The two companies are currently focused on strengthening two of Flutterwave’s flagship products, each serving a different segment of users.
The Send App enables individuals in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Canada to send money to recipients across Africa, while Flutterwave for Business (F4B) supports enterprise transactions, including cross-border payments, supplier settlements, and US dollar-denominated transfers.
Tempo’s blockchain infrastructure is designed for high-volume payment processing and supports fast transaction finality. Its alignment with ISO 20022 standards will also help businesses integrate and reconcile cross-border transactions more efficiently within their existing finance and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms.
According to Flutterwave Founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola, the partnership represents another step in the company’s efforts to modernize cross-border payments and broaden access to stablecoin-powered financial services.
“We are building the infrastructure for how money should move in a modern, connected world–, compliant, scalable, and designed for real-time global commerce. Our partnership with Tempo allows us to expand our existing payments ecosystem by adding additional practical stablecoin settlement rails. We are working together to turn these into everyday tools that will make cross-border payments faster, more predictable, and more cost-efficient for businesses and individuals across Africa. This actively removes friction from the system and expands our multi-rail standard of global payment connectivity for the continent,” he said.
“Flutterwave has built one of the most extensive payments networks in Africa. We’re excited to work with their team to expand their stablecoin settlement to cross-border corridors that have traditionally relied on slow, expensive fiat rails for years, and to get it into production on Tempo,” added Dan Romero, Head of GTM, Tempo.
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