PawaPay Partners with Deriv to Support Mobile Money Deposits Across African Markets

PawaPay, a leading pan-African payments aggregator, has partnered with Deriv to support mobile money deposits across multiple African markets, with plans to expand further. The integration gives Deriv users access to local payment methods through a single, compliant connection to major mobile operators. 

The partnership, launched in 2025, currently supports mobile money deposits across eight African countries, with connectivity to major mobile money operators. 

Deriv selected PawaPay to support its African expansion strategy in order to deliver mobile money without sacrificing localisation or reliability as volumes grow.

Since launching with PawaPay, Deriv has seen a measurable increase in mobile money deposits across the live markets. Coordinated launch and education campaigns accelerated adoption, while the underlying reliability of the integration meant fewer failed transactions and more predictable settlement, factors that directly affect whether a payment product succeeds in practice.

PawaPay connects businesses to local payment methods, including mobile money across 20 African markets, handling payment processing, settlement, FX, and reconciliation for global platforms operating at scale.

Through the partnership, Deriv users are able to fund their accounts using mobile money wallets they already use day to day. For platforms operating across African markets, mobile money is a primary way customers transact, and offering it reliably requires local operator connectivity, regulatory alignment, and the ability to manage payments consistently across markets.

PawaPay supports Deriv through a single integration that provides operator connectivity, compliance support, and settlement across the markets live today. This includes hands-on support during periods of network instability, so issues can be addressed before they impact users. The setup is designed to support high-volume payment flows as usage 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.”