By Mohamed Konneh
BnB Money Transfer and its parent company, Cauridor, won the prestigious “Disrupter of the Year” award at the 2026 Africa CEO Forum Awards held in Kigali, Rwanda. The award recognizes their role in building payment infrastructure that makes cross-border transactions cheaper and more accessible across 16 African countries, including Sierra Leone.
CAURIDOR’s mobile money platform BnB has been added to the “Disrupter of the Year” for revolutionizing digital finance in Sierra Leone and West Africa.
The award was presented to the CEO Dr. Oumar Rafion Barry during an exclusive gala dinner. The event brought together fintech leaders, regulators, and development partners to celebrate innovation in financial inclusion.
Showcasing the trophy in Freetown during a dinner at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown on Friday 19th June 2026, CEO Dr. Oumar Barry said, “This award belongs to our clients, agents and users who trusted us first.
‘’Disruption means solving real problems. For us, that’s making money move safely for every Sierra Leonean, from Aberdeen to Kabala. From Canada to Freetown and onto your home wherever you are gives us joy.”
CAURIDOR announced plans to expand BnB’s services to other part of Africa by 2027, with new features for climate resilience grants and fisheries cooperatives.
‘’This awards belongs to Sierra Leone and our customers. We started small and our first customer was a lady who sent money from Canada to Sierra Leone. This story is a reflection of who BnB is and what we do to connect people,’’ he said.
Dr. Barry said before this time people will have to wait for long period to transact or receive money sent from oversea.
‘’We came to Sierra Leone and we started building a network. We build a network by working with other partners. The award we have won is part of the story of our first transaction.
He said award of this nature before now were won by big countries like Nigeria, Kenya and the rest.
‘’This is the first time a winner is coming from this part of the continent. Let me use this occasion to thank my employees who have made this possible, the staff, and customers.’’
Dr. Barry also thanked the banks for their support and believing in the vision.
Judges during the presentation of award cited BnB’s impact in breaking barriers for the unbanked. Launched to bridge gaps left by traditional banks, BnB now enables instant transfers, merchant payments, and cross-border remittances through a simple USSD and app interface. Its agent network reaches remote fishing and mining communities, including the Turtle Islands and Kono, where formal banking remains scarce.
“BnB didn’t just build an app — they disrupted exclusion,” said the award committee. “They turned every phone into a bank branch and gave market women, okada riders, and fishermen control over their money.”
Dr. Barry said they are committed to be transparent and accountable.
‘’Sierra Leone is a great country with great potential for growth. The entrepreneurs in the USA are doing amazing jobs. BnB is vision is to support Sierra Leone’s development plan and by improving the lives of the ordinary people.’’ He said.
Mr. Umar Jalloh, Co-Founder of BnB while making his statement expresses happiness for the recognition noting that BnB started as a baby but today the business is growing.
‘’We started with two thousand dollars and that the first person who receive money from our transaction was one Madam Agnes Jalloh. I use to visit homes to pay customers. It was a bit difficult at the time and I had wanted to give up. But with persistent and courage see where we are at the moment,’’ said the Co-Founder.
The CEO of Bloom Bank also praised BnB for winning the award while assuring the money transfer platform of the bank’s commitment to partnership.
The CEO of United Bank of Africa, Mohamed Samura congratulated BnB CEO for wining the award.
‘’We believe this is just the beginning, you started small and today you are in 16 countries. At UBA we were the first bank to partner with you and we will continue this journey together.
