Page 167 - Forbes - USA (October 2019)
P. 167
PROMOTION
PROMOTION
Africa Gets a
New Wallet
INNOVATOR ANDY KHAWAJA LEADS MOBILE PAYMENTS EXPANSION
Editor in Chief Paul Trustfull
MEET ANDY,
THE SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLAR MAN
Andy Khawaja’s smartphone houses I wanted to turn
photos of himself with Barack Obama, into a reality,” he
Larry King, Los Angeles Mayor Eric adds.
Garcetti, and Pope Francis. The founder
and CEO of Allied Wallet speaks five It w a s t oug h
languages, and hob-knobs in Doha and going in the begin-
Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Beverly ning, as Khawaja’s
Hills. Friends and clients call him Dr. requests for loans
Andy. With a global perspective and were turned away
network of business experts, this tech by 350 banks. His
innovator is leading his company toward luck changed fol-
promising e-commerce opportunities in lowing a chance
Africa. meeting with an
execut ive f rom
“Africa is the future,” says Khawaja. Deut sche Ba nk
“Investing in the human capital of youth, who agreed to take
creating jobs and helping the mas- a risk and granted
sive 15-to-22-year-old market become Allied Wallet’s first
self-supporting is what I really want to seed loan.
do. Allied Wallet is a powerful tool for
helping young people break out of their The key to suc-
dependency on governments.” cess in the online Former President Bill Clinton and Allied Wallet Founder Andy Khawaja
payments business
ENTREPRENEURIAL PASSION is mastering interrelated issues such as markets where labor costs are low, or
cybersecurity, the banking industry, and growing profits by selling imported goods
Allied Wallet is a leading online pay- the interface between public policy and from China, Khawaja’s Allied Wallet has
ment service provider headquartered in global trade. Khawaja seems adept in all. incorporated a deeper understanding of
Los Angeles. Khawaja has amassed $16B global business. Its NextGen Payment
since creating the company in 2005, and STRATEGY: SHIFT TO ALTERNATIVE Gateway offers what the CEO claims
he expects it to double in size before PAYMENT METHODS is “more alternative payment methods
2025. globally than anyone else.” Allied Wal-
Allied Wallet plans to enter the Afri- let sees e-commerce as a whole, singu-
“From a very young age, I had an can market later this year, starting with lar market with varying nuances. Allied
entrepreneurial spirit in my bones,” says the Portuguese-speaking central Afri- Wallet’s functionality has been extended
Khawaja. “I’ve always been a leader and can nation of Angola, followed by The to embrace the technical requirements
I’ve always had the passion to work hard. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of multicurrency payment systems in
But my first ambition to become a CEO and Rwanda. Commercial activity in 164 countries and takes into account the
came from my thirst for improvement in these markets is largely cash-based, and diversity represented by differing needs
the way people do business,” he recently therefore ripe for a shift to clean and fast of each culture.
told a small group of business leaders. “I electronic transactions.
wanted to create and innovate new meth- This new market will require an
ods for people to safely, securely and sim- While globalization for some com- increasingly growing global payment
ply accept payments. I had a vision that panies has meant manufacturing in network, says Khawaja. It will also need
Emerging Markets
Emerging Markets 1
