PawaPay’s Ismaël Kouassi on mobile money’s role in Africa’s digital economy

Ismaël Kouassi, PawaPay director for Côte d’Ivoire: “We are a facilitator that helps businesses plug into Africa’s mobile money economy”

Ismaël Kouassi, Côte d’Ivoire director of PawaPay, a fintech company specializing in mobile money solutions in Africa, explains in this interview that the firm positions itself as a technological bridge. It gives businesses, banks and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to multiple payment ecosystems through a single integration. He says his role is to simplify payments, payouts, transaction tracking and cash flow management.

According to Kouassi, Côte d’Ivoire and the entire West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) are now among the most dynamic regions in Africa for digital payments. Driven by high mobile money adoption, modern infrastructure such as the BCEAO’s interoperable PI-SPI platform, and a rapidly evolving financial environment, the area is emerging as a true hub for fintech players. Kouassi also believes that the complementary relationship between banks and mobile money will be a key driver of financial growth in the coming years, especially for SMEs, which will gain access to more financial services through better integration of digital flows. With this in mind, PawaPay aims to continue lowering technical and operational barriers to accelerate trade, investment and economic integration across the continent.

You describe PawaPay as a payment infrastructure company offering a single integration, a unified dashboard and consolidated treasury in about 20 African countries. What does this infrastructure role actually mean? 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 see us as a facilitator that helps businesses connect to Africa’s mobile money economy. Mobile money is now one of the continent’s most important financial infrastructures. According to the GSMA, more than $2 trillion moved through mobile money services worldwide in 2025, doubling transaction value in just four years. This shows we are no longer talking about an emerging payment method, but an essential part of African commerce.

Our role is to allow businesses to access this ecosystem through a single integration.

That might mean enabling a money transfer company to send funds to mobile wallets, helping an internet provider collect subscriptions, supporting a urban mobility platform in paying its drivers, or letting digital companies serve customers across several African markets. We provide the technology layer that orchestrates payments, disbursements, transaction tracking, flow management and reconciliation. Mobile money operators remain responsible for customer accounts and e-money issuance. Banks handle banking services and fund custody. Regulators ensure market integrity and oversight. If mobile money is one of the infrastructures fueling African commerce, our mission is to make it easy for businesses to access it across multiple markets.

PawaPay already operates in 20 African markets. What logic guided your first target markets, and what criteria drive your expansion today?

From the start, we targeted markets where mobile money already played a significant role in daily economic activity. Africa has developed some of the world’s most advanced digital payment ecosystems, and we wanted to be where businesses were already seeking to reach customers via mobile money. Three factors still guide our development. First, customer demand. We closely follow the markets where our clients expand and want to reach new consumers. Companies like Bolt, Yango, LemFi or GiveDirectly operate across multiple countries, and their needs naturally shape our priorities. Second, the strength of the local payment ecosystem.

We favour markets where mobile money, digital commerce and financial services play a growing role in the economy.

Finally, we place great importance on long-term partnership potential. Infrastructure builds over years. Trust relationships with operators, financial institutions and ecosystem players are essential. The goal is not simply to add countries, but to build a coherent coverage that lets businesses operate continent-wide.

Côte d’Ivoire and the wider UEMOA are often seen as a future regional fintech and finance hub. What makes this area particularly attractive for a pan-African payment infrastructure? What elements really make the difference?

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

Within this, Côte d’Ivoire holds a strategic position. It is UEMOA’s largest economy, one of the region’s main financial centres, and a market with over 28 million registered mobile money accounts and more than 13 million active accounts.

What is particularly striking is the deliberate investment in regional financial infrastructure. The BCEAO’s interoperable instant payment platform PI-SPI is a great example. By April 2026, over 80 institutions were already connected, including banks, e-money institutions and microfinance bodies. For businesses and financial institutions, the quality of payment infrastructure directly determines their ability to participate in economic activity. For a pan-African infrastructure like PawaPay, this is a major advantage. A regulatory decision or partnership developed in Côte d’Ivoire can potentially affect several countries in the region. The depth of the banking sector, strong mobile money adoption, entrepreneurial dynamism and Abidjan’s geographic position as a regional economic centre also make a difference.

When a French-speaking African bank works with a payment infrastructure like PawaPay, what real benefits does it see beyond technical access to mobile payments? How does it affect customer acquisition, service cost, liquidity management, compliance, fraud prevention or the offering for SMEs?

The first thing to underline is that banks and payment infrastructures are complementary. Banks remain at the heart of settlement, liquidity management, compliance, customer relations and financial services. That does not change. What is evolving, however, is the scale mobile money has taken in everyday economy.

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

Flows in the opposite direction are at comparable levels. The future is not “bank or mobile money”, but “bank and mobile money”. An infrastructure like PawaPay allows banks to access multiple payment ecosystems through a single connection, improving visibility on flows, easing treasury management and widening their ability to serve customers. This is especially relevant for SMEs. Many already collect payments via mobile money. Banks that can integrate these flows into their financial service offering can deliver more value to these growing businesses.

How do you see the mobile money ecosystem evolving over the next five years? Will the growth drivers be more merchant payments, mass payouts, government payments, e-commerce, B2B, savings and credit, or cross-border uses?

One of the most interesting phenomena today is that growth comes from several segments simultaneously. Consumer adoption is already well established in many markets.

In UEMOA, financial inclusion rose from 56% to 71% between 2018 and 2022, mainly thanks to digital financial services and mobile money.

Merchant payments perfectly illustrate this dynamic. According to studies, their volume grew by more than 40% in 2025, making this segment one of the most dynamic in the ecosystem. This shift reflects a deeper reality: mobile money is gradually becoming an everyday tool for commerce. We see it in digital services, internet subscriptions, transport, education, retail and many other sectors. Cross-border payments will also keep growing as African companies operate across multiple markets. Mobile money is no longer a niche product; it has become an essential infrastructure for African commerce.

The mutual recognition of licenses agreement between Ghana and Rwanda was seen as an important sign for cross-border African payments. What does it reveal about the evolution of regulatory cooperation between African jurisdictions? Is it a precedent that can be replicated at scale, or still a very specific advance under certain conditions?

I believe it reflects a deep-seated trend increasingly visible on the continent. African regulators recognise that trade, investment and the digital economy are becoming more integrated, and that regulatory cooperation can support economic growth while maintaining necessary safeguards. The Ghana-Rwanda agreement is one example. UEMOA’s harmonised framework is another. The approaches differ, but they reflect the same reality: economic activity now extends well beyond national borders. There will likely never be a one-size-fits-all model, but the growing willingness to collaborate, share experiences and build common frameworks is a very positive development for African trade and investment. Ultimately, Africa will need more mutual recognition mechanisms and regulatory harmonisation to support cross-border payment growth.

Ultimately, Africa will need more mutual recognition mechanisms and regulatory harmonisation to support cross-border payment growth.  

Many players talk about a future seamless and interoperable African payment network. What do you see as the realistic trajectory toward that goal? What prerequisites must be met first?

The encouraging aspect is that the main foundations already exist. Mobile money adoption is strong. Financial institutions continue to invest in digital infrastructure. Initiatives like PAPSS, PI-SPI and several regional interoperability programmes show a common ambition to strengthen connectivity. The next step requires closer collaboration among operators, banks, infrastructure providers and regulators. The goal should not be solely to speed up payments.

The goal must be to support trade, exchange and economic participation across the continent.

When businesses can serve customers in multiple countries more easily, when consumers have more options and when financial institutions access a larger regional market, the whole ecosystem benefits. But technology alone will not suffice. We also need to address issues around currency management, compliance, fraud prevention and payment network governance.

What role can infrastructure companies like PawaPay play to support the growth of a regional hub like Côte d’Ivoire? Where can you create the most value?

Our role is to reduce friction. Every time a company wants to expand into multiple African markets, it faces significant technical, regulatory and operational complexity. An infrastructure like PawaPay simplifies that expansion.

We help businesses, banks and fintechs quickly access several markets through a single platform.

For a regional hub like Côte d’Ivoire, that means more investment, more innovation and more companies capable of operating regionally and even continentally. The greatest value we can create is to accelerate the flow of funds, services and economic opportunities across the continent. In our view, the next chapter of African financial development will not only be digital; it will also be deeply pan-African.