Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down at the Visa Innovation Studio in Nairobi with three exceptional leaders — Olivia Etyang’ from Visa, Evans Toroitich from Citi, and Catherine Wangechi from Cellulant — to unpack one of the most exciting fintech collaborations I’ve come across in a long time.

Together, these three leading organizations have launched Citi Optimized Pay, a bold and timely solution aimed at addressing one of the most persistent problems facing businesses in Kenya and beyond: the working capital gap in supply chains.

Why Citi Optimized Pay Matters

According to the IFC, Kenya’s supply chain finance gap is estimated at over $25 billion — a staggering 25% of our GDP. The challenge? Suppliers — especially SMEs — often wait 60 to 90 days to get paid after delivering goods or services. Meanwhile, large corporate buyers typically want to delay payments to manage their own cash flow. The result is a working capital stalemate that can cripple smaller businesses.

Citi Optimized Pay bridges that gap by allowing corporate buyers to use their commercial cards to pay suppliers early via a secure, seamless, and flexible platform built on Visa’s infrastructure and powered by Cellulant’s Tingg payment gateway.

A Game-Changer Born in Nairobi

What I found especially compelling is that this wasn’t some imported idea from New York or London. Citi Optimized Pay was co-created at Visa’s Innovation Studio in Nairobi — the only one of its kind in Africa — and it was built with local insights from SMEs, suppliers, and enterprise buyers.

As Olivia Etyang’ explained, the space was designed to foster innovation by enabling partners to co-create real-world solutions that address the needs of African markets. Citi Optimized Pay is the latest fruit of that vision.

How It Works

Evans Toroitich broke it down brilliantly during the podcast: Citi issues virtual commercial cards to its corporate clients. These clients upload approved supplier invoices to the platform, and suppliers are then notified and given the option to get paid early — either via bank transfer or mobile money — without needing expensive card infrastructure.

Suppliers effectively leverage the buyer’s creditworthiness to access fast, reliable cash flow, while buyers benefit from extended payment terms and digitized accounts payable processes. It’s truly a win-win.

Cellulant’s Role: Orchestrating Seamless Payouts

From Catherine Wangechi’s perspective, this platform is a culmination of years of building a Pan-African payments infrastructure. Tingg provides suppliers with multiple payout options, enabling them to receive funds via M-PESA, bank transfers, and soon, even directly onto cards.

The platform also minimizes the overhead and cuts out the bureaucracy typically associated with SME financing. No trips to the bank. No endless paperwork. Just a simple, verified, and secure digital journey from invoice upload to funds disbursement.

Designed for Scale — Across Sectors and Markets

One of the most exciting things we discussed was the future potential of Citi Optimized Pay. What started as a solution for sectors like FMCG, travel, and manufacturing is already showing promise in areas like logistics, agriculture, and financial services.

With Cellulant’s presence in over 20 African markets, and Visa’s global infrastructure, this solution is poised for continental scale. And Citi brings the supply chain finance expertise that anchors the entire offering.

Why Is This Happening Now?

The answer is simple: Kenya is a hotbed of fintech innovation, and the ecosystem is ready. As Olivia put it, “We have the tech. We have the appetite. We have the need.”

Add to that the fact that this is one of the few corporate-focused platforms truly designed to uplift SMEs — and you have a transformative tool that could unlock massive economic value.

As an entrepreneur myself, this solution hits close to home. Managing cash flow is one of the toughest parts of running a business. The fact that Citi Optimized Pay allows SMEs to unlock the value of their invoices and get paid faster — without burdening their corporate customers — is nothing short of revolutionary.

If you’re in the supply chain space, or just passionate about digital financial inclusion, this episode is a must-listen.

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