When Sulaiman Adewale sat at the supermarket checkout feeling the blur of numbers on a print-out—his short-sightedness making a routine payment stumble—he didn’t just shrug. He began building a payment system aimed at removing that friction. “My short-sightedness was the trigger,” Adewale says, adding that the real thrust behind the idea was simple: accessibility and convenience.
From frustration to solution: building for everyone
Adewale’s starting point was this: many people find digital payments harder than they need to be—not because they aren’t smart, but because the tools assume too much. He says: “I started working on Xara because I wanted a very simple payment system that works even for people who are not very tech-savvy.”
And when it came to where that system should live, he didn’t over-engineer it: “My approach wasn’t about marketing strategy. Built on WhatsApp wasn’t because it was trendy—it was common sense. WhatsApp is the platform where almost everybody is already.” He emphasises: “I’m a proponent of taking technology to the people. I don’t want people to have to download anything unless they have to. The people I believe would love this product are already there.”
What Xara is and how it works
Launched in June 2025, Xara is a WhatsApp-based AI-powered assistant that allows users in Nigeria to send money, pay bills and manage transactions simply by chatting. Instead of switching apps, navigating menus or forms, users send natural-language text or voice commands in the WhatsApp chat with Xara. It even supports images (for example snapping an account number) and voice notes. The bot currently understands English and Nigerian Pidgin; local languages like Hausa and Yoruba are on the roadmap. To get started, a user adds Xara’s WhatsApp number, completes onboarding, receives a virtual account number via partner bank (for example 9 Payment Service Bank), links a funding source and all done.
Early traction and significance
Within weeks of its launch, Xara registered thousands of users and processed significant volume: over ₦135 million (≈ USD 88,200) within its first two weeks. The platform reports tens of thousands of registered users and thousands of daily active users. What the metrics hint at is less about flashy growth and more about the promise of closing a real gap: Nigeria’s large population that finds traditional fintech apps too clunky or intimidating. According to Central Bank of Nigeria data, over 28 million Nigerians remain financially excluded. By building into WhatsApp—already familiar and widespread—the barrier to entry drops.
Challenges and what lies ahead
Adewale is candid about hurdles. He says building trust in a “low-trust industry” like fintech in Nigeria is a marathon. He points out that many users start with small amounts (₦1,000, then ₦5,000) before ramping up as they gain confidence. Security and regulatory compliance are front of mind: the product uses WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, offers a 4-digit PIN for transactions, and leverages its banking partner’s licence rather than yet holding its own. On the scaling front, Adewale hopes to raise seed funding, secure more licences, and expand into other African countries where WhatsApp is dominant.
Why this matters
For media strategist / consultant minds like yours (just noting, since you work in media/PR), Xara’s story offers a few angles:
- Simplicity as differentiator: In a landscape saturated with apps, a “no-download, chat-only” proposition stands out.
- Built from lived experience: The founder’s micro-moment—short sight making payments harder—gives the product an authentic origin.
- Platform leverage: Choosing WhatsApp wasn’t just convenience—it’s tapping into behaviour and context instead of asking the user to change it.
- Inclusion focus: The older adult segment and low-digital-literacy audience are frequently overlooked; this product intentionally addresses them.
- Narrative richness: There’s tension (exclusion vs access), simplicity vs complexity, local language support vs tech grandeur. These make for strong story hooks.
