“Can a blockchain-native payment switch become the regulated settlement and routing infrastructure layer for Africa's interbank payments — displacing legacy central switches while enabling CBDC and digital currency interoperability?”
Founded in 2008 as Appzone, the company spent over a decade building proprietary core banking and payments software for African financial institutions. In 2022, it made a decisive pivot to blockchain-based payment infrastructure, rebranding to Zone and securing Africa's first CBN-licensed regulated blockchain payment switching network. The strategy shifted from serving banks as a software vendor to becoming the underlying regulated payment rails itself — enabling direct inter-bank routing, instant settlement, and decentralized switching for POS, ATM, and funds transfer — positioning Zone as a peer-to-peer interbank settlement layer competitive with legacy switches like NIBSS.
Zone processes payments through Zone (self-operated).
Zone was founded by Obi Emetarom, Wale Onawunmi and Emeka Emetarom and is founded in 2008, headquartered in 12B Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria.
Zone has raised $18.5M in total (latest round: Seed, March 2024).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Zone and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.