{
  "id": 18306861,
  "title": "How a car-importing problem became a cross-border payments business",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/how-a-car-importing-problem-became-a-cross-border-payments-business",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-05T13:04:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCabal",
    "slug": "techcabal",
    "url": "https://techcabal.com/2026/11/05/clea-cross-border-vendor-payments/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "When Nigerian entrepreneur Adedokun founded Clea, a cross-border payments platform for African businesses, he encountered challenges typical of car importers. He had to find vehicles and pay auction houses, which could be in other countries. This proved difficult, as businesses internationally often rely on banks for moving money between markets. By 2022, when Adedokun began importing vehicles from the United States, Nigerian fintechs were developing products to facilitate international payments. However, the options available did not always meet his specific needs. \"Some fintech platforms in Nigeria rejected my payments, and I had to go through the lengthy process of filling forms and transferring money manually, with limits imposed by Nigerian banks,\" Adedokun explained to TechCabal. Car importation is just one example among many businesses that must pay suppliers before orders are shipped. In the first quarter of 2025, total imports exceeded ₦15 billion ($11.1 million), according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. In 2024, Adedokun launched Autoclear, a service that assists customers in sourcing vehicles and paying US auction platforms. While working with importers, he observed that they also needed to pay shipping companies, freight forwarders, and brokers, each with distinct payment requirements. He partnered with longtime friend Sidney Egwuatu to create Clea, a cross-border payments platform for African businesses importing goods from overseas. Clea enables businesses to manage international supplier payments through a single platform. After signing up and completing verification, a business funds its account in naira from a Nigerian bank account, converts the funds into the required currency, and designates its overseas supplier as a beneficiary. Payment routes to US beneficiaries can include ACH, Fedwire, or RTP, while other destinations can utilize SWIFT. Stablecoins play a role in Clea's infrastructure, facilitating efficient value transfer between payment processes. Adedokun mentioned that the platform is designed to minimize complexity, allowing customers to focus on funding accounts in naira and ensuring suppliers receive the agreed foreign currency. Clea also offers a Vendor Payments feature, enabling businesses that frequently pay the same overseas companies to streamline transactions. By maintaining preconfigured vendor payment information, Clea simplifies the process for both parties, reducing the risk of incorrect account details, speeding up reconciliation, and providing better visibility, potentially leading to faster settlements.",
  "summary": "Clea is a cross-border payments platform to serve African businesses importing goods from overseas.",
  "key_points": [
    "Nigerian entrepreneur Adedokun founded Clea to address cross-border payments for African businesses.",
    "Clea enables businesses to manage international supplier payments through a single platform.",
    "Platform offers Vendor Payments feature to streamline transactions with frequent overseas suppliers."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}