Airtel Money Africa, the mobile money division of Airtel Africa, has deepened its collaboration with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider, pawaPay, to streamline international remittances for licensed International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) across seven African markets.
Seven countries to gain from enhanced remittance services
The expanded partnership launches pawaPay’s inbound remittance service into Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, and Tanzania.
IMTOs will now be able to deliver funds directly into the mobile wallets of more than 161 million Airtel Money customers in real time, backed by pawaPay’s 99.9 per cent platform uptime and capacity to process over four million transactions daily.
Building on a five-year collaboration
Airtel Money Africa and pawaPay have worked together for over five years on domestic mobile money services. This latest move extends their cooperation to the international payments space, simplifying backend processes through pawaPay’s robust infrastructure and enabling secure, scalable transactions across borders.
Leadership perspectives
“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with pawaPay to advance international remittances across Africa,” said Ian Ferrao, CEO of Airtel Money Africa. “Their proven reliability and commitment to African consumers make them an ideal partner. This integration empowers IMTOs to securely connect with Airtel Money’s growing footprint, delivering real-time payments that support financial inclusion and economic growth.”
Nikolai Barnwell, CEO of pawaPay, added: “Our mission is to simplify payments for businesses in Africa, and remittances are pivotal. Deepening our relationship with Airtel Money allows International Money Transfer Operators to leverage our world-class infrastructure for seamless cross-border payments.”
Driving financial inclusion and the digital economy
Remittances are a lifeline for millions of Africans, fueling household support, small business growth, and entrepreneurship. By enabling instant, secure mobile wallet transactions, the partnership strengthens Africa’s digital economy and supports broader financial inclusion goals.
pawaPay plans to roll out similar services to additional Airtel Money Africa markets in the coming months.