Med Student to Fintech Founder: How Kotani Pay Is Powering Africa’s Crypto Payments

From med school at the University of Nairobi to building Africa’s crypto payment rails. After researching blockchain at the Institute for Blockchain Studies, Felix Macharia, the CEO of Kotani Pay, identified a major infrastructure gap: Africa lacked seamless crypto on-ramps and off-ramps. In 2020, during COVID, they launched Kotani Pay to bridge digital assets and local currencies across the continent. Today: ✅ Licensed cryptoasset service provider 🌍 Operating in 7 African countries 💱 Enabling cross-border payments 🤝 Supporting initiatives with the World Food Programme At a time when Kenya faced foreign currency pressures, solutions like this helped close critical liquidity gaps. Africa isn’t waiting for financial infrastructure. It’s building it.