PayPal is in discussions with fintech companies in Africa as it prepares to launch a cross-border digital wallet platform on the continent in 2026, Otto Williams, the company’s head of Middle East and Africa, told Semafor.
The move is part of PayPal’s effort to tap into Africa’s rapidly growing digital payments market.
The new platform, PayPal World, is designed to allow interoperability between local digital wallets and international payments.
Users will be able to pay using a PayPal button that connects to their existing wallet, rather than creating a new PayPal account.
The company announced the initiative in July, highlighting partnerships with digital wallet providers in India, China, and Brazil, and plans to roll out the service globally this year.
Williams said the platform would extend to African markets in 2026.
“We’re looking to enable as many markets as possible on the continent through partnerships, wallet partners on the continent,”
he added, noting ongoing conversations with stakeholders and ecosystem players.
PayPal already works with African fintechs such as M-Pesa and Flutterwave to facilitate local payments.
PayPal World, however, aims to go further, enabling cross-border payments and wallet switching while allowing merchants to accept payments from local wallets without investing in additional technology, including new point-of-sale systems.
Williams explained that the platform addresses practical issues. For example, users often cannot pay overseas because their digital wallet is not backed by Visa or Mastercard.
Another challenge is the difficulty of scanning a M-Pesa QR code using PayPal.
Current partners include India’s UPI, China’s WeChat Pay, and Brazil’s Mercado Pago, representing an estimated two billion wallet users globally.
In September, PayPal committed US$100 million to drive innovation and support entrepreneurs across the Middle East and Africa.
“We’re looking at bringing more of our capabilities,”
Williams said.
“We’re looking at hiring staff across the continent and across the region to continue to scale the business.”
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Middle East, based on image by user16172657 via Freepik
