Within four years, he was able to position FedaPay, the startup he co-founded, in several African markets. His ambition is to conquer the whole African market.
Benin-born Hermann Aguessy (photo) is since January 2022, the CEO of FedaPay Niger, the Nigerien subsidiary of the startup he co-founded five years ago with Boris Koumondji.
The startup, which offers payment aggregation solutions, is already present in several African countries, including Benin, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal. However, its aim is to improve its offers and boost financial inclusion in the continent. It intends to first cover the whole of Francophone Africa, by entering additional markets like Burkina Faso and Cameroon.
With its eponymous solution, FedaPay aims to offer clients a handy tool, the only one they will need to collect payments.
“Users can now accept Visa, Mastercard, and mobile money payments through FedaPay. The platform can be useful for -commerce actors and everyone accepting payment online or through mobile/web apps,” Hermann Aguessy said in January 2022 after raising expansion funds through the Benin Business Angel Network (BBAN).
In 2012, the co-founder completed his Master’s of Computer Science at the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, and joined the International Organisation of la Francophonie as an IT manager. A year later, he co-founded tech lab BLOLAB while at the same time pursuing an IT service management certificate at the ITIL Foundation.
In 2014, he returned to Benin as head of the IT department of Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi (EPAC). Months later, he founded Nautilus Technology, a computer engineering firm, and held management position (until 2018) at DUCIEL Sarl, an international trading firm.
With FedaPay, Hermann Aguessy earned several government recognitions. In May 2021 for instance, he received a XOF23.4 million (US$38,000) grant from Benin’s Digital Entrepreneurship Support Fund. His startup has also been commissioned by the National Agency for the Identification of Persons (ANIP) to collect payments for its services.
Melchior Koba
