Fixing Cross-Border Payments in Emerging Markets: Liquidity, Compliance, and Fintech Infrastructure with Akinsola Jegede

Jonathan Bench speaks with Akinsola Jegede, founder and CEO of VitalSwap, about building cross-border payment infrastructure for emerging markets and the legal, regulatory, and liquidity challenges that shape global commerce from Africa outward. Akinsola shares how personal experience with currency scarcity and payment failures led him to create a fintech platform designed to bridge local currencies and U.S. dollar settlement, and explains why liquidity constraints, FX fragmentation, and compliance friction can quietly suppress economic growth across the continent. They discuss the practical realities of AML and KYC scrutiny, the importance of contextual risk assessment in cross-border transactions, and how licensing and strategic partnerships with banks and fintechs enabled VitalSwap to scale across multiple jurisdictions. The conversation also explores the role of stablecoins behind the scenes, trust-building in financial services, and what founders must understand about regulation when operating at the intersection of law, technology, and global payments.