PawaPay Secures Mozambique Payments Licence, Expanding to 24 African Markets

African payments fintech PawaPay has secured a Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence from the Bank of Mozambique, allowing it to onboard merchants directly and provide regulated payment services in the country.

The licence was granted through its local subsidiary, Quidexplus Mozambique, and gives the company access to a mobile money market with more than 12 million active accounts across three operators: M-Pesa, operated by Vodacom; E-Mola, operated by Movitel; and mKesh, operated by Tmcel.

The approval expands PawaPay’s footprint from 23 to 24 African markets, according to the company. Backed by Nigerian musician and entrepreneur Oluwatosin “Mr Eazi” Ajibade, the fintech provides payment infrastructure that helps businesses accept and process mobile money payments across different markets.

Direct Access to Mozambique’s Mobile Money Networks

The licence changes how PawaPay can serve businesses in Mozambique. Before receiving approval, the company said its services in the country were limited and relied partly on third parties.

With the new authorisation, PawaPay can onboard merchants directly and connect them to local mobile money networks. This could simplify payment integration for companies that need to collect money from customers using different mobile wallets.

Ilídio Matchebe, PawaPay’s country director in Mozambique, said the licence would allow the company to connect merchants with the mobile money services customers already use.

The company has identified ride-hailing, remittances, retail and non-governmental organisations among the sectors it serves across its markets.

Seven Million Transactions a Day

Founded in 2020, PawaPay says it processes approximately seven million transactions daily across its African operations and has handled more than 3.5 billion transactions to date.

Its platform provides a single integration through which businesses can connect to mobile money payment services in multiple markets, reducing the need to build separate technical connections for each operator.

Mozambique adds another market to that network, although the licence alone does not establish how much transaction volume the company will generate locally or how many merchants it will onboard.

PawaPay said it expects to begin onboarding merchants in Mozambique following the approval. The company has not disclosed a financial value for the expansion or a target for local transaction volumes.

The licence gives PawaPay a more direct route to serving Mozambican businesses as mobile money remains a significant part of the country’s digital payments ecosystem.