Africa’s freelance economy sees new payments platform in BizFlex

For Africa’s fast-expanding army of freelancers, digital creators and small businesses, getting paid across borders remains one of the most stubborn constraints to growth. Dollar earnings are difficult to receive, reconciliation is fragmented, and basic invoicing is still largely manual. It is this structural friction that BizFlex Africa, a new fintech platform co-founded by Adetola Adele, is attempting to remove.

BizFlex is positioned as a financial operating system for Africa’s independent workers and emerging businesses, offering multi-currency accounts, cards, invoicing, payment links, reconciliation and international payouts on a single platform. The bet is straightforward: as Africa’s gig and creator economy scales, the infrastructure supporting it must scale just as quickly.

“For years, I watched freelancers struggle to receive international payments and businesses juggle fragmented tools,” Adele says. “People were creating real value but forced to ‘manage’ financially rather than grow.”

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Africa’s freelance and creator economy has expanded rapidly alongside remote work, social commerce and cross-border digital services. Yet much of the continent’s payments infrastructure still reflects domestic banking models designed long before global digital work became mainstream.

BizFlex is designed specifically for that gap. The platform allows users to receive and hold funds in naira, dollars and euros, issue virtual and physical cards for global spending, and automate invoicing with reminders and reconciliation, features commonly available in advanced markets but still difficult to access consistently in Africa.

It also supports international payouts to more than 100 countries, addressing a major bottleneck for African businesses paying global suppliers, contractors and collaborators.

“The problem isn’t talent,” Adele argues. “The problem is that financial infrastructure hasn’t caught up with how African talent now works.”

Africa’s fintech space is crowded, but Adele insists BizFlex is not competing as a general-purpose payments app. Instead, it is built around workflow integration for freelancers and small teams, combining accounts, cards, payments, invoicing and reconciliation inside one interface rather than across multiple apps.

The platform also offers full API access, allowing startups and larger enterprises to embed BizFlex into their own products or financial back-office systems.

This integrated approach, Adele says, reflects how African businesses actually operate, fast-moving, cross-border, and often without the administrative layers common in more mature markets.

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Trust remains the defining currency in African fintech adoption, particularly for users who depend on steady income flows. BizFlex relies on secure ledger systems, encryption and tokenisation, two-factor authentication, real-time fraud monitoring and partnerships with regulated financial institutions, according to the company.

“Transparency is critical,” Adele says. “Users want to know exactly what is happening with their money at every point.”

Beyond product features, BizFlex is making a broader bet on Africa’s economic structure. As formal employment struggles to absorb the continent’s youthful workforce, millions are turning to freelance services, digital commerce and creator-led businesses for income.

“What we are building is infrastructure for the people shaping today’s African economy,” Adele says. “Freelancers, creators and small businesses now think globally from day one. Their financial tools should match that ambition.”

If BizFlex succeeds, it would place itself squarely at the intersection of Africa’s digital labour market and cross-border financial flows, one of the most strategically important growth corridors on the continent over the next decade.

The competition will be intense. But the opportunity, as Africa’s freelancers increasingly earn in foreign currency and operate without borders, is equally significant.

Stephen Onyekwelu is BusinessDay’s Strategy & Enterprise Delivery Executive, specialising in turning editorial vision into enterprise outcomes. A former Online News Editor and lead of the Go Local initiative (print, podcast & BDTV in partnership with Providus Bank), he blends investigative storytelling with platform strategy, conference design, and cross-functional delivery.

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