Aboki Africa has been around for a little over one year, launching officially in 2020 as a digital currency exchange platform. Founded by Idorenyin Obong, and Joseph Aghedo. The platform was relaunched in July 2021, with an added feature offering users foreign bank accounts in addition to exchange services.
In this post, I will explain in detail, the services and features you can enjoy from using the platform. Transaction charges involved, how long it takes for a transaction to be completed, and if the platform is worth your time or not.
So, without further ado…
Bank Accounts
Aboki Africa currently supports three foreign currencies. The British Pound (GBP), Euro (Euro), United States Dollar (USD), and offers virtual international bank account numbers (IBANs) in these currencies.
With Aboki Africa’s virtual accounts, you get access to international money transfers, cross-border payments, and other financial services.
How to request a virtual account; The team at Aboki Africa has made the process of owning a virtual account quick and easy with just 5 simple steps.
- Log in or create a new Aboki Africa account for free here
- On the home screen, scroll down, and click the Get your IBAN button
- Choose your desired account currency from the available options PS: you can have multiple virtual accounts
- Fill in your details, and provide the requested documents
- Await document verification, and account activation which takes 3 to 7 business days
With your new virtual account, depending on the currency of choice, you can immediately start receiving funds internationally from the United States, United Kingdom, and countries within the EEA region.
Foreign Currency Exchange
To process a currency exchange via the Aboki Africa platform, you need to be able to digitally provide the currency.
To do this, you can top up your foreign currency balance via transfer deposits through your domiciliary accounts, you can also receive the foreign currencies via your virtual IBANs, or make an exchange via a foreign currency debit/credit card.
To make exchanges from your foreign currency balance and virtual accounts, you will just have to swap the desired amount to NGN and withdraw into your local account. Exchanges via a foreign debit/credit card are deposited directly into your local account.
Depending on the quantity of foreign exchange you want to make, I strongly believe transacting via Aboki Africa is your best choice. This sentiment is based on the use of parallel market (black market) rates that Aboki Africa employs in their exchange as opposed to the CBN rate everywhere else.
Other Transaction Options
For ease of use, Aboki Africa currently offers a handful of transaction options to cater to basic international financial needs. Among these options are international transfers, and receiving payments, which are facilitated via virtual accounts.
There is also an option to deposit/top up your foreign balances, make NGN withdrawals, and swap/exchange foreign currencies.
International Transfers; Currently Aboki Africa only supports GBP, and EUR transfers to the United Kingdom, and countries within the EEA region. These transfers typically take 1-3 business days for transactions initiated before 3 pm WAT.
The minimum transactions for both currencies are 110 with a maximum of 3000 respectively.
Deposits; You can make deposits/top-ups into your account via card transactions or bank transfers. NGN deposits are limited to card transactions, with a minimum of 1000 NGN, and a maximum of 500,000 NGN.
Foreign currencies can be deposited via card transactions or bank transfers. With 50 GBP, EUR, or USD as the minimum, and 1000 GBP, EUR, & USD as the maximum for a single transaction.
Bank transfers have a maximum of 2500 USD or its equivalent in other currencies.
Withdrawal; Only NGN withdrawals are currently available. To effect this, you would have to swap your foreign currency into your NGN balance, then click the withdraw option, and provide corresponding account detail.
Payoneer Withdrawal; With your virtual cards, you can easily withdraw your funds to your Aboki Africa account. Convert the received funds into NGN or leave for keeps in your account.
This process is actually faster than the direct withdrawal to NGN accounts which takes 5-7 business days with CBN’s official exchange rate. It’s also faster than withdrawals to domiciliary accounts which take 3-5 business days with an outrageous transaction fee.
Here, I wrote about other mediums by which you can withdraw your Payooner funds in case you are looking to explore more options.
Supported Documents
Like every financial institution, Aboki Africa will at one point or the other request some documentation in order to process user identification, and request approval. Below I will list the required and accepted means of documentations.
- Identification Documentation; Driver’s license, International Passport, and National ID Card/NIN slip.
- Utility Bill; Electricity (Nepa) bill, bank statement all within 3 months
- Line of Business; this is required documentation to open a virtual account
The line of business documentation simply requires you to explicitly provide simple information about what you do.
Transaction Duration
In all my transactions with Aboki Africa, execution time has always been fast. At least within the limit that international bank policies, and payment processing partners enable.
- Account Verification/Activation; 1 to 3 business days
- NGN Withdrawals; Instant execution
- USD Withdrawals; 2 business days
- Foreign Card Exchange; Instant execution
- Virtual Accounts Approval; 3 to 7 days
- Receiving USD Payments;
- ACH Transfers; 1 to 3 business days
- SWIFT Transfers; 4 to 5 business days
- Receiving GBP & EUR Payments; 3 business days
- GBP & EUR Transfers; 1 to 3 business days
- NGN Deposits; Instant execution
- Foreign Card Deposits; Instant execution
- Foreign Transfer Deposits; 1 to 3 business days
Transaction Charges
Nothing is free, even in Freetown. Especially good things. Aboki Africa charges a 1% transaction fee, capped at 6 USD (3,300 NGN). Every extra charge comes from processing partners or international transaction fees.
In this section, I will provide a breakdown of every possible transaction charge you will come across while using the Aboki Africa platform.
- NGN Withdrawals; 35 NGN
- USD Withdrawals; O.5% with a minimum of 5 USD
- Swap Fees; 1% capped at 3000 NGN
- NGN Deposits; 1.4% capped at 2000 NGN
- Foreign Card Exchange; 3.8%
- Foreign Card Deposits; 3.8%
- Foreign Transfer Deposits; 1%
- Receiving Foreign Currencies;
- USD; 1% for ACH, 1% +50 USD for SWIFT
- GBP; 1%
- EUR; 1%
- GBP & EUR Transfers; 0.5% fee with a minimum of 10 EUR or 10 GBP
The charges listed above are different from the 1% Aboki Africa charges for every transaction. So in essence the total transaction charge is +1% of the amount been transacted.
Credits: Aboki Africa
