Leaf 2022 Year in Review
This year the world witnessed more people forcibly displaced than ever before. An estimated 100 million people were forced to flee their homes from conflicts in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Ukraine, and many other parts of the world. There has never been a greater need for new approaches to help address this global challenge at scale. Financial security across borders is not the only solution, but it is an important part of ensuring stability to those affected by conflict.
Leaf is fortunate to be continuing to expand its services and its customer base. The major highlight of the year was the acquisition by IDT Corporation in March. IDT provides a tremendous opportunity for Leaf to deploy its wallet globally through IDT’s network. The Leaf team has been working hard to make this vision a reality. Other highlights of note over the last 12 months:
- Leaf was featured by Stellar CEO, Denelle Dixon, at the US House Finance Committee hearings on stablecoin regulation as an example of a positive use case for stablecoin deployment.
- Visa highlighted Leaf’s work in financial inclusion with forcibly displaced populations in connection with the Inclusive Fintech 50 list.
- Leaf deployed more functionality within the Leaf Wallet for customers to use their funds instead of just converting them to cash or mobile money. These new value-added services include utility bill payments, mobile airtime purchases, and voucher cards for purchases in popular grocery stores and other venues. These services are free to use for Leaf Wallet customers.
- Lead Developer, Leandre Nsengumuremyi, spoke about Leaf’s unique technical architecture on a Stellar panel in Rome.
- Leaf’s new Regional Director of Operations, Grace Anyetei, facilitated a discussion on accelerating innovation at the Finnovex West Africa conference in Nigeria.
- Leaf is continuing to grow its great team with the additions of: Orient Tibeihaho as a Customer Support Lead in Uganda; Grace Anyetei as the Regional Director of Operations for Africa based in Kenya; and Colin Ahern as Leaf’s Chief Technology Officer based in the US.
The year concluded with the Leaf team visiting the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to explore a partnership with several international relief organizations to transfer funds directly to Leaf Wallet holders residing in Kakuma. This is a similar use case that Stellar is already deploying in Ukraine.
The Leaf team continues to see the incredible opportunity to ease the suffering of so many people by delivering a faster, cheaper, more secure, and easily accessible digital wallet solution. In 2023, the Leaf team will do its part to deliver a cross-border financial solution to those in need around the world by adding more countries to its network through IDT and helping customers safely receive support from loved ones abroad.
