Western Union, Zoona Transactions Zambia Limited, and Chipper Cash have announced the launch of international money transfer services within the Chipper Cash app. The co-branded service will allow customers in Zambia to send and receive funds internationally through the mobile platform. Zoona, a fintech and enterprise payments provider in Zambia, was acquired by Chipper Cash in 2022. The combined operations now serve approximately 5 million users across the African continent. This new service brings together Western Union’s global network and long-standing experience in cross-border money movement with the local market knowledge and mobile infrastructure of Chipper Cash and Zoona. Chipper…

JMR Infotech, an India-based provider of digital transformation and banking technology solutions, has announced the successful go live of the Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications (OFSAA) Financial Crime and Compliance Management (FCCM) solution at Cooperative Bank of Oromia (Coopbank) in Ethiopia. The implementation marks a significant development in Coopbank’s efforts to strengthen its compliance capabilities, manage risk more effectively, and reinforce its technology infrastructure for long-term growth. With this deployment, the bank has adopted an enterprise-wide compliance framework that enables improved anti-money laundering (AML) functions, real-time risk monitoring, enhanced data security, and more efficient regulatory compliance. The project involved the…

Ghana is moving towards regulating its fast-growing cryptocurrency industry, which has seen significant expansion in recent years. According to Bloomberg, the Bank of Ghana is currently developing a regulatory framework aimed at governing the digital asset space, which it intends to present to Parliament by September 2025. The move is in response to rising demand for cryptocurrencies in the West African country. As reported by TronWeekly, Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama stated that the government is planning to license cryptocurrency platforms. This initiative aims to ensure the country generates revenue from the digital assets sector while helping to stabilise…

Tanzania’s journey towards a cash-light economy received a significant boost yesterday as global payments firm Visa launched its local office in Dar es Salaam, marking a deeper engagement with the country’s digital finance landscape. The event, known as Visa Day, brought together government officials, regulators, and industry players to celebrate the company’s expanded presence in Tanzania, The Citizen reported. Visa has appointed Victor Makere as Country Manager for Tanzania, who will also oversee operations in Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Makere stated that Visa aims to support Tanzania’s shift to secure and efficient digital payments by working more closely with both…

Moroccan startup ORA Technologies has announced the close of its Series A funding round, raising a total of US$7.5 million. The round was led by Azur Innovation Fund, alongside three other local strategic investors. This brings ORA’s total local funding since January 2023 to US$11.9 million, a record amount that underscores the increasing capacity of Morocco’s tech ecosystem to support domestic startups. ORA is known for its involvement in the “E-Morocco for Everyone” initiative, which aims to improve access to e-commerce and digital payment services across the country. Active in both the retailtech and fintech sectors, ORA is looking to…

SanuPay, an East Africa-based card technology firm, is collaborating with global digital payment software provider OpenWay to launch Ethiopia’s first domestic credit card, marking a significant development in the country’s efforts to modernise its financial infrastructure. In partnership with OpenWay and SantimPay, a licensed payment system operator focused on advancing a cashless economy, SanuPay plans to issue four million debit and prepaid cards, alongside 5,000 Visa and Mastercard credit cards. These will run on OpenWay’s Way4 platform, which supports issuing, acquiring, switching, and mobile wallet solutions. Oromia Bank is expected to be the first to issue the domestic credit cards,…

The Bank of Ghana has issued a directive requiring all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) operating within the country to register with the Bank. This forms part of an initial regulatory process aimed at identifying and assessing entities involved in virtual asset-related activities. Activities subject to this registration include the provision of virtual asset exchange services, wallet custody services, settlement or transfer services involving virtual assets, and services linked to the issuance or sale of virtual assets, including initial coin offerings and stablecoins. The Bank notes that all VASPs offering services to individuals residing in Ghana, whether through a physical…

Flutterwave, a Nigeria-based payments technology company, has obtained a Payment Institution (PI) license from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). The license allows the company to operate in Senegal and provide its full suite of digital payment services to businesses in the country. This development is part of Flutterwave’s broader strategy to support digital payments across Africa and strengthen its presence in West Africa. With the new license, businesses in Senegal can use Flutterwave’s infrastructure to manage collections and payouts, offering payment options such as mobile money and cards. Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of…

Following a week-long bootcamp of lectures delivered by global representatives of the Interledger Foundation, the University of Cape Town (UCT) recently hosted the Financial Innovation Hub and Interledger Foundation Hackathon. The event took place at the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika at UCT, where 12 teams of students from UCT, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Eduvos participated. The aim was not only to win a prize but also to explore the use of the Interledger Protocol (ILP) in developing open-payment solutions tailored to local South African challenges. “Hackathons give students…

Building on the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and deep-tech firm Interstellar have launched the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM). The announcement was made during the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja, held from 25 to 28 June. PACM is designed to address Africa’s long-standing issue of currency inconvertibility, aiming to ease intra-African trade by allowing businesses to exchange local currencies directly, without relying on external hard currencies. Africa’s fragmented financial landscape, consisting of 41 currencies and differing regulatory environments, has forced businesses to rely on hard currencies for trade, resulting in what has…

Wave, a Senegal-based mobile money provider and one of Africa’s highest-valued startups, has secured US$137 million in debt financing to expand its mobile money operations and strengthen working capital across both existing and new markets. The round was led by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), with participation from development finance institutions including British International Investment (BII), Finnfund, and Norfund. The funding will support Wave’s efforts to broaden access to low-cost financial services for underserved populations across the continent. The company, which currently operates in eight West African countries, serves over 20 million monthly users through a network of 150,000 agents and…

Three fintech companies with African roots have been named in this year’s TIME100 list, recognized among the world’s top 100 most influential companies in 2025. These companies appear alongside global giants such as Alibaba, OpenAI, BlackRock, and SoftBank, in the annual list compiled by the American news magazine Time, which showcases the businesses and people who have had the greatest impact on the world that year across various fields, including politics, culture, science, and business. Moniepoint, an online banking services provider from Nigeria, is recognized as the fastest-growing fintech in Africa, and the continent’s fourth fastest-growing company overall. Formerly known…

Africa’s cross-border payments market has seen steady and significant growth in recent years, propelled by regulatory reforms, infrastructure modernization, and the rapid adoption of mobile money solutions. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, with the market projected to more than triple by 2035, increasing from an estimated US$329 billion in 2025 to US$1 trillion in 2035, according to a new report by Oui Capital. The report, released in May, explores Africa’s evolving cross-border payments landscape, analyzing the current state of remittances in Africa, the sector’s opportunities and challenges, and the key drivers behind the market’s expansion. According to the…

Stanbic Bank Kenya, the sixth largest lender in the country by assets, is seeking to raise $100 million (KES12.9 billion) to finance startups and small businesses across East Africa. The initiative marks an uncommon move by a commercial bank into a sector traditionally dominated by venture capital firms and development finance institutions (DFIs). According to TechCabal, the funds will be channelled through Stanbic’s Catalytic Fund, which targets startups and SMEs in sectors such as agritech, healthtech, manufacturing and the creative economy, industries that often face difficulties accessing capital. The bank’s approach reflects a potential shift in Kenya’s banking sector, which…

International banks and investors can now apply for a license to operate in Ethiopia, the country’s central bank announced, marking a major step in the government’s efforts to attract more foreign investment into its domestic banking sector. According to Reuters, Ethiopia, currently undertaking wide-ranging economic reforms under a four-year, US$3.4 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund signed last July, is also working to float its birr currency and finalize an $8.4 billion debt restructuring deal with official creditors. In December, Ethiopia’s parliament passed a landmark law allowing foreign banks to establish subsidiaries, open branches or representative offices, and acquire…

EFT Corporation, a payment solutions provider based in Africa that supports over 100 million end users and processes more than US$33 billion in transactions annually, has partnered with several of Kenya’s leading savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) to develop a shared digital payments platform. The announcement was made at EFT Connect: Kenya, an event held in Nairobi in May 2025, which brought together regulators, SACCO representatives and fintech stakeholders to discuss the future of cooperative financial infrastructure. Although SACCOs in Kenya have made progress in adopting digital tools, many are not yet licensed as payment service providers or fully integrated…

Luno, a global cryptocurrency investment platform, has resumed operations in Kenya as part of its broader growth strategy on the continent. The relaunch introduces a compliant and accessible means for Kenyans to buy, sell, and hold digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Initially operating in Kenya between 2013 and 2014 under the name BitX, Luno now serves over 15 million users in more than 40 countries. The platform allows for instant buying and selling of cryptocurrencies without commission fees, according to Business Today Kenya. Kenyan users can trade using the local currency (KES) across live pairs including BTC/KES,…

A side event at the African Development Bank Group’s 2025 Annual Meetings explored how AI could support inclusive and sustainable development across Africa. The 90-minute session, held under the theme “The AI Revolution: How Will AI Support the Delivery of the African Development Bank’s 2024–2033 Ten-Year Strategy and the Transformation of African Economies?”, was co-hosted with Google AI Research and brought together participants from government, private sector, and research institutions. The discussion centered on what it would take for Africa to become AI-ready. In his opening remarks, Solomon Quaynor, Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization at the African Development…

Mastercard has announced a collaboration with enza, a Abu Dhabi-based payment solutions company, aimed at supporting the expansion of fintech companies across Africa. Through this partnership, fintech firms will gain access to Mastercard’s global network via the enza platform, enabling them to integrate embedded payment capabilities into services for both consumers and businesses. A recent report from the European Investment Bank highlights the rapid growth of the fintech sector in Africa, noting that the number of companies has nearly tripled since 2020. Many of these businesses focus on incorporating payment services into broader financial solutions, offering alternatives to traditional systems…

Yellow Card, a licensed stablecoin payments provider operating across Africa and other emerging markets, has entered into a partnership with Visa. The collaboration aims to support innovation in cross-border payments and financial infrastructure in regions where Yellow Card is active. Under the agreement, Yellow Card and Visa will explore use cases for stablecoins, with a focus on streamlining treasury operations, improving liquidity management, and enabling quicker and more cost-efficient cross-border transactions. “Traditional payment companies continue to question not ‘if’ they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow Card.…