PawaPay’s Ismaël Kouassi on empowering businesses in africa’s mobile money economy

Ismaël Kouassi, Côte d’Ivoire Director for PawaPay: We serve as a vital facilitator, enabling businesses to seamlessly integrate into Africa’s mobile money ecosystem.

Ismaël Kouassi, the Côte d’Ivoire director for PawaPay, a specialized fintech in African mobile money solutions, highlighted in an exclusive interview that the company positions itself as a technological enabler. PawaPay connects businesses, banks, and SMEs to a multitude of payment ecosystems through a single, unified integration. Kouassi explained that their core function involves streamlining payments, disbursements, transaction monitoring, and comprehensive financial flow management.

He emphasized that Côte d’Ivoire and the broader UEMOA region are currently among Africa’s most dynamic zones for digital payments. Driven by robust mobile money adoption, modern infrastructure like the BCEAO’s interoperable PI-SPI platform, and a rapidly evolving financial landscape, the region is solidifying its status as a premier hub for fintech innovators. Ismaël Kouassi also believes that the synergy between traditional banking and mobile money will be a primary catalyst for financial growth in the coming years, particularly benefiting SMEs that will gain access to more financial services through enhanced digital flow integration. To this end, PawaPay is committed to continuously reducing technical and operational barriers, thereby accelerating trade, investment, and economic integration across the continent.

PawaPay is presented as a payment infrastructure firm providing unique integration, a unified dashboard, and consolidated treasury services across approximately twenty African nations. What does this infrastructure role truly encompass? Where do your responsibilities end, and those of mobile money operators, banks, payment processors, or e-wallet issuers begin?

The simplest way to understand PawaPay is to view our organization as a facilitator, empowering businesses to connect with Africa’s thriving mobile money economy. Mobile money stands as one of the continent’s most critical financial infrastructures today. According to the GSMA, global mobile money services processed over $2 trillion in 2025, marking a doubling of transaction value in just four years. This data clearly indicates that we are no longer discussing an emerging payment method but an indispensable component of African commerce.

Our mission is to grant businesses access to this expansive ecosystem through a single integration point.

This could involve enabling a money transfer company to send funds directly to mobile wallets, assisting an internet service provider in collecting subscriptions, supporting an urban mobility platform in paying its drivers, or allowing digital enterprises to serve customers across multiple African markets. We provide the technological layer that orchestrates payments, manages disbursements, tracks transactions, oversees financial flows, and handles reconciliation. Mobile money operators retain responsibility for customer accounts and the issuance of electronic money. Banks manage banking services and the safekeeping of funds. Regulators ensure market integrity and oversight. While mobile money forms a crucial infrastructure powering African commerce, our goal is to ensure businesses can easily access it across various markets.

PawaPay currently operates in 20 African markets. What was the rationale behind selecting the initial markets, and what criteria now guide your ongoing expansion?

From our inception, we strategically targeted markets where mobile money already played a significant role in daily economic activity. Africa has developed some of the world’s most successful digital payment ecosystems, and we aimed to establish a presence where businesses were actively seeking to engage their customers via mobile money. Today, three key factors continue to steer our growth. Firstly, customer demand is paramount. We closely monitor the markets where our clients are expanding and seeking to reach new consumers. Companies such as Bolt, Yango, LemFi, and GiveDirectly operate across multiple countries, and their evolving needs naturally influence our priorities. The second factor is the strength of the local payment ecosystem.

We prioritize markets where mobile money, digital commerce, and financial services are increasingly central to the economy.

Finally, we place considerable importance on the potential for long-term partnerships. Infrastructure development is a multi-year endeavor. Building trusted relationships with operators, financial institutions, and other ecosystem players is essential. Our objective is not merely to add countries but to construct a cohesive coverage that empowers businesses to operate efficiently across the entire continent.

Côte d’Ivoire, and the UEMOA region more broadly, are frequently cited as a future regional hub for fintech and finance. What makes this area particularly appealing for a pan-African payment infrastructure? What elements truly differentiate it?

I would assert that UEMOA is already one of Africa’s most significant regions for digital payments. West Africa processed nearly $500 billion in mobile money transactions in 2025 and boasts over 517 million registered mobile money accounts, making it the most active region globally in terms of operational services.

Within this dynamic landscape, Côte d’Ivoire holds a strategic position. It is the leading economy in UEMOA, a major financial center for the region, and a market with more than 28 million registered mobile money accounts and over 13 million active accounts.

What is particularly noteworthy is the deliberate investment made in regional financial infrastructures. The interoperable instant payment platform (PI-SPI) implemented by the BCEAO serves as an excellent example. By April 2026, over 80 institutions, including banks, electronic money issuers, and microfinance institutions, were already connected. For both businesses and financial institutions, the quality of payment infrastructure directly dictates their capacity to participate in economic activity. For a pan-African infrastructure provider like PawaPay, this represents a significant advantage. A regulatory decision or a partnership developed in Côte d’Ivoire can potentially have a cascading impact across several countries in the region. The depth of the banking sector, the high adoption of mobile money, the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, and Abidjan’s geographical position as a regional economic center also contribute significantly to its allure.

When a Francophone African bank collaborates with a payment infrastructure like PawaPay, what tangible benefits does it realize beyond mere technical access to mobile payments? How might this influence client acquisition, service costs, liquidity management, compliance, fraud prevention, or the offerings available to SMEs?

The first point to emphasize is the complementary nature of banks and payment infrastructures. Banks remain central to settlement, liquidity management, compliance, customer relationships, and broader financial services. This fundamental role remains unchanged. What is evolving, however, is the increasing prominence of mobile money in daily economic life.

According to the GSMA, transfers between bank accounts and mobile wallets reached approximately $167 billion in 2025.

Flows in the opposite direction are reaching comparable levels. Therefore, the future is not about “bank or mobile money,” but rather “bank and mobile money.” An infrastructure like PawaPay allows banks to access multiple payment ecosystems through a single connection, which enhances visibility over financial flows, simplifies treasury management, and expands their capacity to serve their clientele. This is particularly relevant for SMEs. Many of these businesses already collect payments via mobile money. Banks that can seamlessly integrate these flows into their service offerings can provide greater value to these growing enterprises.

How do you envision the evolution of the mobile money ecosystem over the next five years? Will growth be primarily driven by merchant payments, mass disbursements, government payments, e-commerce, B2B transactions, savings-credit, or cross-border uses?

One of the most compelling phenomena we observe today is that growth is simultaneously originating from multiple segments. Consumer adoption is already well-established in many markets.

In UEMOA, financial inclusion rates surged from 56% to 71% between 2018 and 2022, largely attributed to digital financial services and mobile money.

Merchant payments perfectly exemplify this dynamic. Studies indicate their volume grew by over 40% in 2025, positioning this segment as one of the ecosystem’s most vibrant. This trend reflects a deeper reality: mobile money is progressively becoming an everyday tool for commerce. We see its impact across digital services, internet subscriptions, transportation, education, retail, and numerous other sectors. Cross-border payments will also continue their expansion as African businesses increasingly operate across multiple markets. Mobile money is no longer a niche product; it has evolved into an essential infrastructure for African commerce.

The mutual recognition agreement for licenses between Ghana and Rwanda was viewed as a significant development for African cross-border payments. What does this reveal, in your opinion, about the evolution of regulatory cooperation among African jurisdictions? Is this a precedent that can be replicated on a large scale, or is it an advancement still highly specific to certain conditions?

I believe it reflects a fundamental and increasingly visible trend across the continent. African regulators acknowledge that commerce, investment, and the digital economy are becoming more interconnected, and that regulatory cooperation can bolster economic growth while maintaining necessary safeguards. The Ghana-Rwanda agreement is one such instance. The harmonized framework within UEMOA provides another example. While the approaches may differ, they convey the same reality: economic activity now extends far beyond national borders. There likely won’t be a single, universally applicable model, but the growing willingness to collaborate, share experiences, and construct common frameworks represents a very positive evolution for African trade and investment. Ultimately, Africa will require more mechanisms for mutual recognition and regulatory harmonization to support the expansion of cross-border payments.

Ultimately, Africa will require more mechanisms for mutual recognition and and regulatory harmonization to support the expansion of cross-border payments.  

Many stakeholders envision a future fluid and interoperable African payment network. What, in your view, is the realistic path toward achieving this objective? Which prerequisites must be addressed as a priority?

The encouraging aspect is that the primary foundations are already in place. Mobile money adoption is robust. Financial institutions continue to invest significantly in digital infrastructure. Initiatives such as PAPSS, PI-SPI, and various regional interoperability programs demonstrate a shared ambition to enhance connectivity. The next crucial step involves increased collaboration among operators, banks, infrastructure providers, and regulators. The objective should not solely be to accelerate payments.

The objective must be to foster commerce, trade, and economic participation across the entire continent.

When businesses can more easily serve customers in multiple countries, when consumers have a wider array of options, and when financial institutions gain access to a larger regional market, the entire ecosystem benefits. However, technology alone will not suffice. It will also be essential to resolve issues related to currency management, compliance, fraud prevention, and the governance of payment networks.

What role can infrastructure companies like PawaPay play in supporting the growth of a regional hub such as Côte d’Ivoire? Where can you generate the most value?

Our role is to mitigate friction. Whenever a business seeks to expand into multiple African markets, it encounters significant technical, regulatory, and operational complexities. An infrastructure provider like PawaPay helps simplify this expansion journey.

We empower businesses, banks, and fintechs to rapidly access multiple markets through a single, integrated platform.

For a regional hub like Côte d’Ivoire, this translates into increased investment, greater innovation, and more businesses capable of operating regionally and even continentally. The greatest value we can create is accelerating the circulation of funds, services, and economic opportunities throughout Africa. In our perspective, the next phase of African financial development will not only be digital but also profoundly pan-African.

The Editorial Team