Hammed Afenifere on the Local Context AI Compliance Can Miss

Hammed Afenifere, co-founder and CEO of Oneremit, a cross-border payments startup, faced a dilemma while speaking with a Nigerian business owner. The owner, who had been trading for 30 years, saw little value in creating an online presence despite having more orders than his company could fulfill. This encounter highlights the tension between local business practices and the information expected by financial systems for compliance and credit assessment.

Afenifere initially encouraged the owner to create a website to increase credibility and exposure. However, the owner considered the existing sales as evidence of customer confidence, while the orders already exceeded what the business could fulfill. The owner's perspective differed from that of an overseas financial partner, who might not find the relationships visible or assessable through a website alone.

The distinction between customer trust and evidential value for banks became evident in a payment scenario. Afenifere mentioned that the owner was seeking to stop paying suppliers in China through a middleman. His team submitted the owner's documents to a banking partner for the proposed payment, but the bank couldn't assess the business due to insufficient online presence for due diligence.

Understanding the local context is crucial in AI-assisted compliance. Afenifere's team at Oneremit works on designing AI systems that can assess the financial rules and obligations of African businesses transacting with Western counterparties. The challenge lies in the insufficient information about the business being assessed, particularly when its operating practices differ from what AI systems are trained to understand.

The AI systems are often trained on Western datasets, which may not fully represent the diversity of business practices.

Afenifere emphasizes the importance of considering the operating circumstances of businesses when interpreting the available information for compliance assessments. He takes into account how his customers operate and works with his team to obtain licenses where possible. His approach to credit financing is designed around the businesses' own operating circumstances, considering both debit and credit histories to get a more comprehensive view of a business's financial life.