I know I asked, and I can't see if you answered, but where is this? Mentioning the rough region is fine if you want to be private.
It boggles my mind, and just keen to find out where =)
Somewhere in the west African region.
Ah, nowhere I've lived/worked then... though have to say in East Africa, even mobile payment systems (the famous mPesa I keep talking about for example) have been around for over a decade and work great. Just surprised fiat systems there are as slow and complicated as you said when fintech advancements usually show up there even earlier than in so-called developed economies.