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Back on the Ground in Kenya: Why Presence Still Matters in Building Africa’s Financial Future

  • Jan 23
  • 2 min read

This Sunday, I travel back to Kenya with our CEO and co-founder, Craig Wetton, and it marks our first trip of the year. As always, there’s a genuine sense of excitement — not just about the journey itself, but about what lies ahead.


We’re returning to continue conversations, to strengthen relationships, and to crystallise work that has been building over time with clients and soon-to-be clients we’ve met, spoken with, and worked alongside on real solutions. This trip isn’t about introductions. It’s about momentum.


Business meeting with diverse professionals seated around a table with laptops. Bright office setting, cityscape visible outside.

At Veri, we believe that building meaningful financial infrastructure for Africa can’t be done remotely, from a distance, or through assumptions alone. It requires presence. It requires showing up. It means knocking on doors, listening carefully, and taking the time to understand people not just as representatives of institutions, but as individuals with responsibilities, pressures, ambitions, and very real business requirements.


That belief in presence isn’t limited to periodic visits. We have a full-time, on-the-ground representative in Kenya, working daily with our clients and developing the business locally. Ronald Rapanso plays a key role in maintaining continuity, supporting existing relationships, and ensuring that conversations don’t pause between visits. That local presence is critical — it allows us to stay close to our clients, responsive to their needs, and aligned with the realities of their operating environments.


When we are on the ground ourselves, we build on that foundation. We spend time learning how our clients operate, what their constraints are, where existing solutions fall short, and what they actually need — not what a standard platform says they should need. If something doesn’t exist yet, we don’t see that as a limitation. We see it as part of the job. In several cases already, new services and structures have been developed precisely because clients required them.


Two businessmen in suits converse in a bright, modern lobby. Others in suits are in the background. The mood is professional and cordial.

That’s why we don’t see ourselves as a typical service provider. We consider ourselves a working business partner. We don’t offer one-size-fits-all solutions, because Africa doesn’t work that way — and neither do serious businesses. Our role is to work alongside our clients, adapt where necessary, and build infrastructure that genuinely supports how they operate today, while preparing them for what comes next.


There’s also something deeply energising about being back in Kenya itself. The people, the conversations, the pace, the ambition — it’s a reminder of why we’re doing this in the first place. 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for Veri, with significant new platform releases, expanded service structures, and capabilities that we’re genuinely excited to share with those we meet on the ground.


This trip is about reconnecting, updating our partners on how far we’ve come, and opening up conversations about what’s ahead. It’s about trust, alignment, and long-term thinking. And above all, it’s about continuing to build something meaningful, together.


We’re looking forward to being back. The year ahead holds a lot — and this feels like exactly the right place to start.



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