by Airtel Money Africa, Airtel Africa’s mobile money arm, has announced an extended partnership with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider (PSP) pawaPay to enable seamless cross-border payments for licensed International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) across seven key Airtel Africa markets.
This collaboration officially launches pawaPay’s service for inbound remittances into Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville and Tanzania. The partnership allows IMTOs to efficiently deliver funds globally, directly to recipients’ Airtel Money wallets—reaching more than 161 million customers—by leveraging pawaPay’s renowned reliability, scalability and 99.9% platform uptime.
Building on five years of trusted collaboration in domestic mobile money, this expansion strengthens and simplifies Airtel Money Africa’s backend processes, using pawaPay’s robust PSP infrastructure, which processes over four million transactions daily.
“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with pawaPay to advance international remittances across Africa. Their proven reliability and commitment to African consumers make them an ideal partner,” said Ian Ferrao, CEO, Airtel Money Africa. “This integration empowers International Money Transfer Operators to securely connect with Airtel Money’s growing footprint, delivering real-time payments that support financial inclusion and economic growth.”
“Our mission is to simplify payments for businesses in Africa, and remittances are pivotal,” said Nikolai Barnwell, CEO, pawaPay. “Deepening our relationship with Airtel Money allows International Money Transfer Operators to leverage our world-class infrastructure for seamless cross-border payments.”
Remittances remain critical for millions of Africans, enabling family support, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. This partnership ensures secure, instant mobile wallet transactions—key to advancing Africa’s digital economy.
pawaPay will extend this capability to additional Airtel Money Africa markets in the coming months.
Source: Intelligent CIO
