The Central Bank of Kenya has granted PawaPay a Payment Service Provider licence, with the firm operating locally through Quidexplus Kenya Limited, underscoring Kenya’s importance to its regulated payments network.

PawaPay reports having processed three billion mobile‑money transactions, a milestone reached after the first billion took more than four years, the second under twelve months and the third in under nine months.

Daily transaction volumes grew from roughly 2.4 million in September 2024 to about five million by June 2026, reflecting rapid uptake of its API‑based routing platform.

The network now links around 50 mobile‑money operators in 20 African markets, giving merchants access to more than one billion mobile‑money wallets and facilitating over €10 billion in payments.

PawaPay’s footprint spans 23 live markets, with settled payments exceeding €13 billion, and its services cover operator connectivity, settlement, foreign‑exchange, reconciliation and regulatory compliance.

Kenya’s mobile‑money landscape

Kenya hosts 54.01 million mobile‑money subscriptions, making it one of the world’s largest mobile‑money ecosystems and a critical hub for pan‑African payment providers.

The GSMA’s 2026 State of the Industry Report notes that Sub‑Saharan Africa drives most of the sector’s growth, accounting for over two‑thirds of new registered accounts and processing more than $2 trillion in transactions in 2025.

Implications for Kenyan merchants

With the PSP licence, PawaPay can legally provide regulated payment‑processing services to Kenyan merchants, allowing them to integrate a single API while the company manages operator relationships, settlement, foreign‑exchange and compliance on their behalf.

The firm’s Builders programme, currently running in Cameroon for developers and technical founders, signals a broader strategy to deepen ecosystem partnerships and expand its infrastructure services across East, West and Central Africa.