Josephine Christopher is a senior business journalist for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers
Mwananchi Communications Limitted
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian technology entrepreneur Mr Sikjunior Mrimi is seeking to address one of the most persistent challenges facing Africa’s rapidly expanding fintech sector: fragmented and costly compliance and user verification systems.
Through his startup, Briq Solutions, Mr Mrimi aims to simplify how companies verify customers, manage regulatory compliance and communicate with users—areas he says continue to slow down innovation across the continent’s digital finance ecosystem.
Speaking to The Citizen, Mr Mrimi said the idea behind Briq Solutions was born out of his own experience while building his earlier fintech venture, MeetPay.
“I was building my first company, MeetPay, and integrating verification tools was extremely difficult. There were multiple vendors, separate Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and fragmented systems that had to be manually connected. It was slow and frustrating,” he said.
According to Mr Mrimi, conversations with other founders in the region revealed that the challenge was widespread, despite the rapid growth of fintech innovation in Africa.
Startups, he said, often spend considerable time and resources managing fragmented compliance and verification technologies instead of focusing on their core products.
That experience led him to establish Briq Solutions—an infrastructure startup designed to streamline identity verification, authentication and regulatory compliance for digital businesses.
The company focuses on building systems that work within the realities of African digital usage patterns. Rather than relying primarily on web-based forms and email verification, Briq’s platform integrates widely used communication channels such as SMS, WhatsApp and voice calls in Swahili.
Mr Mrimi said the approach makes it easier for companies to onboard customers in both urban and rural areas where internet connectivity may be limited.
“We help companies send notifications, manage compliance and build trust without requiring them to build heavy internal systems,” he said.
Since its launch, Briq Solutions has recorded growing adoption across the region’s digital ecosystem. The company has processed more than one million SMS verifications, over 10,000 WhatsApp verifications during beta testing, and conducted hundreds of voice-based verification trials.
The platform is currently used by fintech firms, digital lenders and mobility platforms operating in East Africa, including startups such as T-Hustle, ZenoPay and Ghala.
Local realities
Mr Mrimi said many global verification platforms struggle to operate effectively in Africa because they fail to account for the continent’s unique digital and regulatory environment.
He identified three key factors often overlooked by international providers.
First, digital identity in many African markets is closely tied to mobile phone numbers rather than email addresses, making SMS and messaging platforms more effective channels for verification.
Second, the cost structure of many global application programming interfaces (APIs) can be prohibitive for African startups operating on thinner margins and targeting high-volume, low-value transactions.
Third, verification tools must comply with specific local Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and data regulations, which differ from those in Western markets.
“A solution designed for London or Silicon Valley may not work in Dar es Salaam or Nairobi if it does not meet local regulatory requirements,” Mr Mrimi said.
He added that Briq’s platform is built to meet regional regulatory frameworks while keeping costs manageable for startups.
The company also encourages fintech firms to adopt verification systems based on mobile numbers and national identification, which are widely available among Africa’s underbanked populations.
“Today many people do not necessarily need ATM cards—they need a mobile phone. Banking through USSD, SMS and WhatsApp is becoming the standard across Africa,” he said.
Expansion plans
Looking ahead, Briq Solutions plans to expand its services to additional African markets and deepen its integration with digital financial services, including mobile money platforms.
The company is also developing a new product designed to automatically link fintech operations—such as lending or payments—with real-time compliance checks.
Mr Mrimi said the long-term ambition is to position Briq as a core infrastructure layer for Africa’s digital finance ecosystem.
“Our goal is to become the trust and communication layer behind African digital finance, supporting millions of transactions every day,” he said.
Beyond fintech, the platform could also support digital services in sectors such as insurance, government services and e-commerce through widely used channels such as USSD, SMS and WhatsApp.
Industry partners say the technology is already improving communication and verification processes for businesses.
Co-founder of ZenoPay, Mr Dastan Ferdinandi, said Briq has helped streamline the company’s transactional messaging.
“With Briq, we can now send transactional SMS and WhatsApp notifications for cross-border payments reliably and securely, ensuring our customers remain informed,” he said.
Similarly, Ghala chief executive Mr Kalebu Gwalugano said the platform has improved communication between merchants and their customers.
“Through Ghala, merchants can now send notifications to customers seamlessly via SMS,” he said.
