Imagine running an import business in Lagos. You find a supplier in Guangzhou, negotiate a price, agree on shipping terms and prepare to pay. But there is one problem: your supplier wants dollars, your bank cannot guarantee access to them, and an international transfer could take several days. Then your supplier sends you an invoice with a different option: pay in naira through XTransfer. You make a local transfer, the payment is converted, and your supplier receives the money in China. For thousands of Nigerian importers, this is becoming an increasingly attractive way to pay Chinese suppliers. But there is something particularly interesting about how XTransfer built its position in this market. It did not necessarily win Nigerian customers by advertising to them or convincing individual traders to download another payments app. Instead, it went after the people who already had their business: Chinese exporters. By getting suppliers onto its platform, XTransfer created a route into the businesses that buy from them. Nigerian importers followed because the payment option was already attached to a transaction they wanted to complete. It is a relatively simple distribution strategy, but one with significant implications for cross-border payments. XTransfer’s success in Nigeria is not just about making international payments easier. It is about controlling the payment relationship between buyers and sellers. And in a trade corridor where China supplies a substantial share of Nigeria’s imports, that strategy has created a valuable opportunity.

  1. A massive trade corridor with a persistent payment problem

To understand why XTransfer’s approach works, start with the size of the Nigeria-China trade relationship. China is one of Nigeria’s most important trading partners, supplying everything from electronics and machinery to textiles, industrial equipment and consumer goods. According to figures compiled from official trade statistics, the relationship has continued to expand. Measure Figure Total Nigeria-China trade in 2025 ₦22.57 trillion China’s share of Nigeria’s imports in Q2 2025 32.45% (₦4.96 trillion) China’s exports to Nigeria in 2016 $9.72 billion China’s exports to Nigeria in 2025 $24.91 billion Sources: Nairametrics and Intelpoint. The figures reveal why this trade corridor matters. China accounted for nearly one-third of Nigeria’s imports in the second quarter of 2025, more than twice the share of the United States. Its exports to Nigeria also reached approximately $24.91 billion in 2025, a ten-year high. One important distinction is necessary when interpreting this growth. The widely reported 40% increase in trade value is measured in naira, meaning currency depreciation accounts for part of the rise. Dollar-denominated export figures provide a better indication of the underlying growth in trade. Three characteristics make this corridor particularly attractive for a specialist payments company. First, the trade is heavily one-directional. Nigeria imports substantially more from China than it exports there. This creates a consistent need for Nigerian businesses to source foreign currency to pay Chinese suppliers. Second, the market consists of thousands of small and medium-sized importers. These businesses may not have the transaction volumes, financial resources or banking relationships required to access efficient international payment services. Third, the corridor is growing. As more Nigerian businesses source goods from China, the demand for reliable and affordable settlement options increases. For a payments company, this is an attractive combination: a large market, recurring transactions and customers facing a common financial problem. But XTransfer’s real advantage was not simply recognising this opportunity. It was understanding who actually controls the payment decision.

  1. The strategy that changed everything: Win the supplier, get the buyer

Most fintech companies trying to enter a new market follow a familiar playbook. They advertise, acquire individual customers, offer incentives and spend heavily trying to convince people to adopt their products. XTransfer approached the Nigerian market differently. Rather than starting with Nigerian importers, it focused on the Chinese exporters selling to them. The logic is straightforward: in international trade, suppliers often determine how they want to receive payment. If a Nigerian importer wants to purchase goods from a Chinese manufacturer, the supplier’s preferred payment method can become part of the transaction’s terms. XTransfer understood that it did not need to convince every Nigerian trader to use its platform independently. It needed to convince the exporters who could introduce the platform to hundreds or thousands of potential buyers. Why Chinese suppliers became the distribution channel Chinese exporters have their own reasons for adopting the model. When a Nigerian buyer struggles to access dollars, the consequences do not end with the importer. The Chinese supplier also suffers from delayed payments, postponed shipments and uncertainty around when funds will arrive. For exporters operating on tight margins and managing multiple international customers, payment delays can disrupt their entire business. XTransfer offers a way around some of that friction through local collection accounts. A Chinese exporter can receive payments in naira through a local account, while XTransfer handles the conversion and settlement to the seller in China. The supplier no longer has to depend entirely on the Nigerian buyer arranging an international dollar transfer. XTransfer has published accounts from Chinese businesses describing how its local collection services have improved payment speed and helped them close deals with customers in markets such as Nigeria and Ghana. A Shenzhen trader, for example, described receiving funds almost in real time after opening local collection accounts. A Xiamen-based company also highlighted the benefit of quoting customers in local currencies, reducing payment delays and the risk of losing orders. These are company-published customer experiences rather than independently verified performance studies, but they illustrate the commercial problem the product is designed to solve. Why Nigerian importers follow For Nigerian buyers, the attraction is even simpler. Instead of searching for dollars, negotiating access to foreign currency or waiting several working days for an international transfer to clear, they can pay through a local naira collection route. The payment method is already included in the supplier’s invoice, making adoption relatively straightforward. There is also a commercial incentive. When a supplier prefers a particular payment channel, refusing to use it can create unnecessary friction. An importer risks delayed shipments, additional negotiations or less favourable payment terms. XTransfer effectively turns the supplier into a distribution partner. The importer does not necessarily need to discover the platform independently. The platform arrives through an existing business relationship. A smarter customer-acquisition model This is where the strategy becomes particularly powerful. Imagine trying to acquire thousands of Nigerian importers individually across markets such as Alaba, Balogun and Onitsha. The company would need a significant marketing budget, local sales teams and a continuous effort to build trust with businesses scattered across the country. Now consider acquiring Chinese exporters at concentrated trade events such as the Canton Fair. One exporter could introduce XTransfer to dozens or hundreds of Nigerian customers. Each new supplier relationship creates access to another network of buyers. The economics are fundamentally different. Instead of spending heavily to acquire every importer, XTransfer can use the supplier’s existing customer relationships to distribute its product. The supplier also provides something advertising cannot easily replicate: trust. A Nigerian trader who has worked with a Chinese supplier for years is more likely to try a payment service recommended by that supplier than an unfamiliar fintech discovered through an online advertisement. XTransfer’s reported growth in Africa is consistent with this strategy. The company says collections from Africa increased by 369.1% year over year between January and September, while Nigeria was its fastest-growing market among its Hong Kong clients. These figures are company-reported and should be treated accordingly, but they indicate the scale of growth XTransfer is targeting.

  1. Four advantages that make the model difficult to compete with

Getting suppliers to introduce Nigerian buyers explains how XTransfer acquired customers. But customer acquisition alone does not explain why the platform can retain them. Its position is supported by four interconnected advantages. A. Nigeria’s foreign-exchange problem creates demand For years, Nigerian importers have struggled with access to foreign currency. Even when official exchange-rate conditions improve, accessing dollars through conventional banking channels can involve documentation, allocation processes and delays. International bank transfers also involve correspondent banking arrangements, which can add costs and processing time. Depending on the banks and payment route involved, transfers to China can take several working days. Importers must also navigate Nigeria’s import documentation requirements, including Form M, which is processed through authorised dealer banks. For businesses that need to pay suppliers regularly, these processes can become expensive and unpredictable. XTransfer’s proposition is therefore built around a genuine pain point: giving Nigerian businesses another way to fund international purchases without having to source dollars themselves for every transaction. The more difficult conventional dollar access becomes, the more attractive this alternative can appear. However, this advantage also introduces a vulnerability. If dollar availability improves significantly and traditional bank transfers become cheaper and more reliable, some of the urgency behind XTransfer’s proposition could diminish. B. Local payment infrastructure makes naira collections possible A cross-border payments company cannot succeed simply by promising cheaper international transfers. It needs reliable access to the local financial system. XTransfer has addressed this by working with established payment infrastructure providers. Its partnership with Flutterwave supports local-currency payment collections in markets including Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. It has also partnered with Ecobank, which operates across 35 African countries and has a presence in Nigeria. These partnerships are important because they allow XTransfer to connect with existing financial infrastructure rather than building an entire local payment network independently. For Nigerian importers, the benefit is convenience: they can make payments using familiar local payment channels. For XTransfer, the benefit is reach. Partnerships with established financial institutions and payment providers can help it scale without having to recreate every component of the local banking system. C. Scale in China provides a liquidity advantage One of XTransfer’s biggest advantages may be the scale it has already built on the Chinese side of the transaction. The company reports that approximately RMB 2 out of every RMB 100 of China’s exports settles through its platform. It also says that one in ten Chinese foreign-trade SMEs has registered with the service. Its Hong Kong listing application reports payment volume exceeding US$60 billion in 2025. Separately, the company’s strategy chief has stated that monthly payment volume reached approximately $15 billion in early 2026, with Nigeria and South Africa among its largest African markets. These figures come from different company disclosures and should not be interpreted as independently verified Nigerian transaction volumes. Nevertheless, they illustrate the scale of the network XTransfer is building. Why does this matter? A payment network becomes more useful when it has substantial activity on both sides of a transaction. XTransfer has a large base of Chinese exporters already using its services. This creates an opportunity to match payments collected from Nigerian buyers with payouts to Chinese suppliers through its existing network and liquidity arrangements. Rather than relying entirely on sourcing scarce dollars in Nigeria for every transaction, the company can use its broader cross-border infrastructure to facilitate settlement. This is a potentially important advantage over smaller competitors that may have access to Nigerian payment rails but lack comparable scale and relationships in China. D. Free transfers encourage customers to stay within the network XTransfer also uses pricing to strengthen its network. According to company statements, transfers between two XTransfer accounts are free, while a small flat fee applies when one party is outside the platform. This creates an incentive for both buyers and sellers to remain within the ecosystem. Consider a Chinese exporter receiving payments from several Nigerian importers. If both parties use XTransfer, they can benefit from its internal transfer arrangements. The exporter then has an incentive to encourage other customers to use the platform. As more participants join, the network becomes more useful to existing users. This is a familiar network-effect model: each new participant potentially increases the value of the platform for everyone already using it. How the four advantages reinforce one another These factors are more powerful together than they are individually. Nigeria’s foreign-exchange challenges create demand. Chinese suppliers introduce their Nigerian buyers. Local payment partnerships make naira collections possible. XTransfer’s scale in China supports its settlement network, while free internal transfers encourage participants to remain on the platform. Each new supplier can bring more buyers. Each new buyer creates additional transaction opportunities for suppliers. The result is a cycle that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate. XTransfer is not just building a payments product. It is building a network around an existing trade relationship.

  1. The risks: Can XTransfer maintain its lead?

Despite its apparent advantages, XTransfer’s position in Nigeria is not guaranteed. There are important questions around the reliability of its reported growth figures, regulatory requirements and competition. How much of XTransfer’s Nigerian success can be independently verified? Not all the figures associated with XTransfer carry the same level of credibility. It is important to distinguish between independent trade statistics, regulatory disclosures and company-reported performance. Evidence category Examples Reliability Independent statistics Nigeria-China trade values and import shares High: based on official trade data compiled by third parties Regulatory filing More than $60 billion in 2025 payment volume Moderate to high: disclosed in a company filing submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Company-reported figures 369.1% African collection growth, Nigeria’s market growth ranking, customer testimonials and RMB 2 out of every RMB 100 Low to moderate: company statements and promotional materials The most important limitation is that there is no independent public dataset establishing XTransfer’s exact Nigerian transaction volume or number of active Nigerian customers. The company’s reported growth figures provide useful indications, but they should not be confused with independently audited market-share data. The conclusion that XTransfer has developed a strong distribution strategy is supported by its business model and partnerships. However, the precise scale of its Nigerian operations remains difficult to establish independently. Regulatory risk: The biggest question surrounding the model Perhaps the most significant challenge is regulation. Nigeria has established documentation and banking requirements for commercial imports. Form M, for example, is an important part of the country’s import process and is handled through authorised dealer banks. XTransfer’s model allows a Nigerian buyer to pay naira into a local collection account, after which the funds are converted and settled with the Chinese seller. The key regulatory question is how these collections, conversions and cross-border settlements fit within Nigeria’s foreign-exchange and import-payment framework. The existence of a local collection account does not automatically remove the need to comply with applicable import documentation and foreign-exchange requirements. If the Central Bank of Nigeria or other relevant authorities introduce stricter requirements governing how foreign sellers collect naira and settle proceeds abroad, XTransfer could face additional compliance costs and operational friction. Requirements to link payments more closely to import documentation could also affect the convenience that makes the service attractive. Its dependence on local payment partners introduces another layer of risk. Any regulatory or operational changes affecting those partners could influence XTransfer’s ability to collect funds. There is also an opposite scenario. If Nigeria’s foreign-exchange market becomes more liquid, dollar access improves and international bank transfers become more efficient, the problem XTransfer currently solves could become less urgent. In other words, part of its competitive advantage is tied to conditions in the Nigerian financial system. Competitive risk: Other companies want the same market XTransfer is not alone in identifying the opportunity. WorldFirst, owned by Ant International, already offers businesses the ability to convert naira into renminbi and pay Chinese suppliers directly. Nigerian fintech companies such as Afriex also target businesses that need to make international supplier payments. These competitors are addressing similar customer problems: access to foreign currency, cheaper settlement and faster international payments. However, replicating XTransfer’s supplier-led strategy is more difficult than simply building a naira payment option. A competitor needs to establish relationships with Chinese exporters, integrate into their payment processes and convince them to recommend its platform to their customers. That is a different acquisition challenge from competing for Nigerian importers through advertising. This is where XTransfer’s existing Chinese exporter network could provide a meaningful advantage. However, its position may be less dominant in trade corridors where its supplier relationships are weaker, such as imports from Turkey, the UAE and India. Larger Nigerian importers that require extensive bank-grade documentation and customised settlement arrangements may also prefer conventional banking relationships or other specialised providers.

  1. The bigger lesson: In B2B payments, distribution can beat product

XTransfer’s rise in Nigeria offers an important lesson for the cross-border payments industry. The company did not necessarily win by building a product that Nigerian importers had never seen before. It won by understanding how business relationships already work and inserting its payment infrastructure into them. In international trade, the supplier often has considerable influence over how a transaction is settled. By winning the Chinese exporter first, XTransfer gained access to the Nigerian importer without having to acquire every customer individually. The supplier became its distribution channel, its introduction point and, in many cases, the reason the buyer tried the platform in the first place. This is a powerful strategy because business-to-business payments are not simply about attracting users. They are about connecting the parties that already need to transact with one another. The same principle applies beyond Nigeria-China trade. A payments company looking to enter a new market could build distribution through manufacturers, wholesale suppliers, trade associations, logistics companies, marketplaces or financial institutions. Rather than creating demand from scratch, it can attach its infrastructure to an existing commercial network. That is arguably the most important lesson from XTransfer’s strategy. But the company still faces two conditions that could reshape its position: Nigeria’s regulatory approach to cross-border collections and the continued need for alternative foreign-exchange settlement channels. Competitors are unlikely to overtake XTransfer simply by copying its app or offering slightly cheaper fees. They will need to build trusted relationships with the suppliers who control the transactions. XTransfer’s biggest advantage may not be the technology behind its payments. It is the network of businesses that already trust it to move their money. If it can maintain that network, navigate regulation and expand beyond the Nigeria-China corridor, it could become an increasingly important player in Africa’s cross-border payments market. For now, its story demonstrates something the fintech industry sometimes overlooks: the best way to acquire a customer may be to win over the person they already do business with.

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

References

  1. Nairametrics — Nigeria recorded N17.78 trillion trade surplus in 2025 but ran its largest deficit with China.
  2. Intelpoint — China dominates Nigeria’s imports in Q2 2025.
  3. Intelpoint — China’s exports to Nigeria increased by 40% in 2025.
  4. PR Newswire — XTransfer hits 800,000+ global clients.
  5. XTransfer Newsroom — Collections from Asia, Africa and Latin America surpass 70%.
  6. Malay Mail — XTransfer sees soaring collection volume from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
  7. Afriex — How to pay international suppliers from Nigeria.
  8. WorldFirst — How long payments to Chinese suppliers take.
  9. BusinessDay — Form M and PAAR delays.
  10. The New Times — XTransfer targets Africa to fix costly cross-border payments.
  11. Asia News Network — XTransfer debuts at Seamless Africa 2026.
  12. MSME Africa — XTransfer and Ecobank partner for African SMEs.
  13. Malay Mail — XTransfer CSO joins roundtable in Rwanda.
  14. Hong Kong Stock Exchange — XTransfer listing application.
  15. PR Newswire — XTransfer’s global customer and business expansion disclosures.