PawaPay and Deriv expand mobile money deposits across eight African markets

Pan-African payments aggregator PawaPay has partnered with global online trading platform Deriv to enable mobile money deposits across multiple African markets, as both firms deepen their footprint on the continent.

The integration, launched in 2025, is now live in eight African countries and provides Deriv users with access to local mobile money payment methods through a single, compliant connection to major mobile network operators. Further expansion into additional markets is planned.

Deriv selected PawaPay to support its African growth strategy, seeking to scale mobile money offerings without compromising localisation, compliance or reliability as transaction volumes increase.

Since going live with PawaPay, Deriv has recorded a measurable rise in mobile money deposits across the active markets. Joint launch and customer education campaigns have helped drive adoption, while improved transaction reliability has reduced failed payments and delivered more predictable settlement — factors considered critical to the long-term success of digital payment products in Africa.

PawaPay connects businesses to local payment methods, including mobile money services across 20 African markets. The company manages payment processing, settlement, foreign exchange and reconciliation for global platforms operating at scale in complex regulatory environments.

Under the partnership, Deriv customers can fund their trading accounts using the same mobile money wallets they use for everyday transactions. Across much of Africa, mobile money remains a primary payment channel, but delivering it effectively across borders requires direct operator connectivity, regulatory alignment and consistent payment management.

PawaPay provides Deriv with a single integration covering operator connectivity, compliance support and settlement in all live markets. The service also includes operational support during periods of network instability, allowing issues to be resolved before affecting end users. The infrastructure has been designed to handle high-volume payment flows as demand grows.

“Mobile money is already deeply embedded in how people transact across Africa,” said Nikolai Barnwell, CEO at PawaPay. “The real challenge for companies expanding across multiple markets is running it reliably once volumes grow. Our role is to make sure payments remain predictable, so platforms like Deriv can focus on their customers rather than managing operational detail.”

Derek Swift, Head of Client Funding Facilities at Deriv, said, “Our partnership with PawaPay is central to Deriv's expansion across Africa. Their platform performs reliably in markets where payment infrastructure requires real local expertise, and their team operates with the kind of responsiveness that matters when you're serving clients across multiple jurisdictions. This partnership has opened markets that simply weren't accessible to us before.”