Global Payments Partnerships: How West African Businesses Can Expand Globally

With the help of advanced technology and remote work models, businesses of all sizes, including SMEs and startups across different regions, can now expand globally. This makes it easy for thriving West African businesses to take their products and services to target markets internationally. However, there are also vital considerations to take into account.

Anytime a business plans to go global, issues related to finance and payments cannot be overlooked. It entails dealing with different currencies, and businesses ought to know how they’ll transact with their customers. In addition, they need to understand and align with local financial ecosystems and payment regulations. As you can tell, much critical work needs to be handled when a business is expanding to global markets, and that is where the need for collaborative efforts comes in.

Partnerships and strategic alliances are among the best and most effective means and models for businesses to expand globally. Through this approach, West African businesses can easily access new markets, streamline cross-border transactions, and access a diverse talent pool. Additionally, through partnerships, a business may not even need to incur the cost of setting up its operations in new markets.

Are you a business leader or owner in West Africa looking forward to expanding to other global markets? This post explores how global payment partnerships can help you through this process.

Ways West African Businesses Can Expand Globally Through Payment Partnerships

• Integration of payment gateways to simplify cross-border transactions.

As outlined above, when a business expands to new international markets, there is a need to streamline how transactions are done since you deal with different currencies. It’s estimated that 76% of international consumers prefer to pay in their local currencies. International payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay, Amazon Pay, Thunes, and Ayden help customers from various regions across the world make online payments in different currencies.

Integrating one or more payment gateways or working with payment providers that support global cross-border payments helps businesses collect international payments seamlessly. Also, most payment gateways tend to offer competitive transaction fee rates. More importantly, payment gateways provide better data protection when making payments.

• Collaborate with local payment processors.

When a business expands globally, it caters to a diverse customer base of different cultures and preferences across various regions. For instance, in countries like Kenya and India, mobile payment is the most widely accepted form of payment, unlike in Europe, where online bank transfers are common.

One of the significant things to consider is implementing payment processes that align with your customers, which means incorporating localized payment methods into your system. Partnering with reliable local payment processors is the best way to do it. As a result, it creates a preferred customer experience in a particular region, ultimately boosting global growth.

• Partner with global payroll and EOR service providers to hire and pay employees.

Global business expansion also requires compliance with the necessary laws within the jurisdiction in which it aims to operate. Apart from business registration requirements, businesses should comply with local labor and employment laws and policies. This can be complex and expensive for most businesses, especially for West African SMEs trying to expand to other countries. The remote work model has tried to simplify how businesses hire and pay employees, but compliance is very important.

However, when expanding globally, partnering with global payroll and Employer of Records (EOR) service providers can be a game changer for most West African businesses. Businesses can opt to use a global payroll service provider. It helps businesses manage payroll processes and pay employees and independent contractors globally and compliantly. For instance, West African businesses that want to expand to other African regions can partner with global payroll providers like Workpay.

Another way of handling payroll in global expansion is by partnering with EOR service providers. An EOR service provider takes charge of the entire payroll process, including hiring and paying international employees or contractors. Therefore, a business doesn’t need to set up legal entities in foreign countries since the EOR service provider takes on the legal responsibility of being the employer of international staff on behalf of the business.

Partnering with such service providers allows the outsourcing of some administrative tasks that can easily hinder global expansion. Additionally, it saves your business from legal risks. Above all, it will enable a business to focus on other vital aspects such as strategic marketing, the delivery of quality products and services to customers, etc.

Partner with Workpay to expand your business across Africa.

Workpay is an HR and payroll management service provider that helps employers and businesses manage HR, payroll, and compliance-related processes through its robust cloud-based employee management platform. To support business expansion, Workpay offers EOR services to help businesses hire, manage, and pay remote employees across Africa compliantly. That means no hassle establishing local entities or dealing with other complex business registration processes. With Workpay’s team of payroll, HR, legal visa, and global mobility experts, you are on the right track to expand your business operations in full compliance and access the best talents in Africa.