Nearly 22,000 Nigerian students are studying in the UK for various degrees, among over three million in Europe. Nigerians spent $129 million on overseas education in January and February 2022, according to recent reports.
Many Nigerians have looked abroad for a better and more comfortable college experience. Even for those who get into their dream schools, government-funded education in Nigeria can be awful.
Learning abroad is hard, especially without aid, even if you can afford it. Nigerians struggle with school admissions, fees, visas, and bureaucracy. Besides these issues, inflation and an alarming exchange rate hampered the economy. With an unpredictable rate, students may pay less in fees.
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These students must discover simple ways to pay tuition, get loans, or assimilate into a community to study abroad. Vesti, Pay4Me, and Tuition by Flutterwave are three Nigerian fintech startups that can help you pay for overseas school and provide other financial services to make your time abroad easier.
Vesti
Olu and Abimbola Amusan started Vesti. It’s more than just a fintech tool; it’s a financial partner for people who want to find work abroad. With Vesti, as a student studying abroad, you can access a wide range of financial services and helpful knowledge that will help you on your way.
First of all, anyone who wants to move can use the tool to find information and financial services, such as government payments, savings, and health insurance. Then, it gives people who want to move to other countries unique advice, just like its founders did when they came to the United States.
In addition to making it easier for students to pay their fees, the platforms bring together 272 million migrants who have had similar experiences and difficulties and want to help each other. Vesti makes it easy for students to get loans, but they still have to promise to repay them.
Also, Vesti lets users make virtual cards and pay hundreds of sellers selling moving-related things. You can even pay for the costs of foreign immigration in your currency, which makes the process easier and less expensive.
Pay4Me
Pay4Me is a dedicated payment tool that makes it easier for international students from Nigeria to pay their tuition and fees. The platform makes it easy for them to pay tuition and fees to universities, colleges, the government, and other educational bodies in their home country and worldwide.
Pay4Me goes above and beyond by connecting these students with study-abroad managers and transfer experts who can help with visa processing, choosing a university, choosing courses, and moving papers.
In partnership with licenced and accredited money transmitters, banking partners, student loan companies, immigration firms, colleges, and universities, the fintech also offers student-specific financial services like bank accounts, debit and credit cards, loans, instant P2P, and other educational support services.
As a Nigerian student, Pay4Me can help you pay your fees in your currency in just a few minutes, saving you the trouble of converting currencies.
The Pay4Me app gives you access to loans, funding opportunities, moving guides, expert help, and scholarship updates.
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Tuition by Flutterwave
Tuition by Flutterwave is an education payments platform that makes it easy for African students to pay their school fees on time and in their currency, whether they are learning in Africa or elsewhere. Fintech gives students from Africa learning in Africa or abroad a simple way to pay their school fees in their currency, so they don’t have to deal with complicated currency conversions.
Even though it doesn’t yet work with American schools, users can sign up for their schools on the site. Currently, the list of schools includes UK schools like Swansea University, University of Hertfordshire, and University of Leicester.
Tuition also helps pay for schools like AltSchool Africa, which teaches tech skills, in addition to traditional universities. Tuition costs a flat rate of 20 pounds for each transaction with a school in the UK.
The app is still relatively new, as it just came out in July of this year.