Case Studies

Perez Ochieng is a London-based Kenyan businesswoman who has been a driving force in supporting smallholder sweet potato farmers in Kenya through her company, Sacoma. Perez provides education and high-quality seeds to the farmers, enabling them to become self-sufficient. The sweet potatoes are then harvested and shipped to Europe for sale.

Perez faced ongoing problems with the high street bank she had used since starting her business. International payments often arrived late, leaving farmers unpaid and produce rotting at the roadside. Additionally, the bank’s sending fees were very high, and the exchange rates were poor.

As a solution, Perez opened an account with VFX and was immediately able to pay the Kenyan farmers in real time, directly to their mobile phone accounts via M-Pesa. This eliminated the need for slow and expensive banks. With a highly competitive exchange rate and a sending fee of just £1, Perez saved significant amounts, enabling her to expand the programme more quickly with the farmers.

Perez now airfreights the sweet potato crop and uses VFX’s treasury service to pay the logistics firm with same-day USD payments. As she expands the programme to the wider East African continent, VFX will continue to facilitate payments to other countries as well.