PalmPay Expands East Africa Footprint with Uganda, Tanzania Launch

Nigerian fintech PalmPay has announced plans to launch operations in South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, and Tanzania before the end of 2025. This expansion will grow its operational footprint to six countries, adding to existing operations in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.

The fintech also disclosed that it now boasts 35 million users, with each user making an average of 50 transactions monthly. According to Managing Director Chika Nwosu, this high engagement is backed by a 99.5% transaction success rate and strong infrastructure investments aimed at improving system reliability and trust.

“Mobile money wasn’t always perceived as viable, but we identified a core problem: system reliability, especially for simple things like free and seamless transfers,” he said. “So we invested in technology that’s efficient and reliable.”

Despite the limitations of its mobile money license, PalmPay users can earn interest and purchase treasury bills through its partnerships with insurance companies like Leadway Assurance and investment houses like ARM. 

“We have effectively built a super app that integrates banking, investment, insurance, and payments,” Nwosu said. “Think of it like a one-stop financial marketplace that is fully compliant through layered partnerships.”

While PalmPay didn't disclose specific product offerings for each new market, it did confirm that in Tanzania, the company will focus on business-to-business (B2B) services, an expansion that may pave the way for a future "public listing", Nwosu said.

The company paid $2.4 million in interest to 9 million users via its wealth product in 2024, suggesting it held over $11 million in deposits on that product alone.