Yuno, Onafriq move to end Africa’s payment fragmentation

Africa’s long-standing payment fragmentation challenge may be entering a new phase as global financial infrastructure provider Yuno and Pan-African payments network Onafriq launch a strategic partnership designed to give international merchants seamless access to 43 African markets through a single integration.

The partnership, which is already live in Nigeria and six other African countries, signals a growing effort by global payment companies to simplify how businesses enter and scale across the continent’s diverse financial ecosystem.

Under the arrangement, merchants connected to Yuno’s payment orchestration platform can now access Onafriq’s extensive network spanning 43 African countries, nearly one billion mobile wallets, 500 million bank accounts, and over 2,000 cross-border payment corridors through a single application programming interface (API).

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The development comes at a time when Africa is attracting increasing attention from global technology firms, payment providers and investors seeking growth opportunities beyond mature markets. However, expansion across the continent has often been slowed by fragmented payment systems, differing regulations and the need for multiple integrations with local financial institutions.

These challenges have remained one of the biggest barriers preventing international businesses from fully participating in Africa’s rapidly growing digital economy.

By integrating Onafriq’s network into its infrastructure, Yuno is seeking to remove much of the complexity involved in connecting to local payment rails across multiple African countries. The partnership allows merchants to process payments, make disbursements, issue cards and manage treasury operations without building separate connections in each market.

For Nigeria, the collaboration further strengthens the country’s position as a key hub for cross-border digital payments and financial technology innovation. The service is already available across Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda.

Speaking on the partnership, Juan Pablo Ortega, Yuno co-founder and chief executive officer, said Africa remains one of the most attractive growth regions for global commerce but has been held back by infrastructure challenges.

According to him, integrating Onafriq’s network into Yuno’s platform gives merchants a reliable and compliant route into African markets without the burden of managing multiple payment systems and regulatory frameworks.

“Africa represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities in global commerce, and yet too many merchants are still locked out by payment infrastructure that wasn’t built for scale. Our partnership with Onafriq changes that. By bringing their unmatched African network into our infrastructure layer, we’re giving our clients a single path to a continent-wide ecosystem with the reliability, compliance, and local depth they need to grow with confidence,” Ortega stated.

The move also aligns with Yuno’s broader global expansion strategy as the company seeks to deepen its presence across emerging markets following growth in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

For Onafriq, formerly known as MFS Africa, the partnership extends its reach to a wider pool of international merchants looking to tap opportunities across the continent.

Onafriq Chief Executive Officer, Dare Okoudjou, said Africa’s payment ecosystem has always demonstrated strong growth potential but lacked the infrastructure needed to support expansion at scale.

He noted that the collaboration creates a simpler pathway for global merchants to connect with African consumers and businesses while expanding access to digital financial services across the continent.

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Beyond the commercial opportunity, the partnership reflects a broader shift occurring in Africa’s fintech landscape, where infrastructure providers are increasingly focusing on interoperability rather than building isolated payment ecosystems.

As cross-border trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gathers momentum and digital commerce continues to expand, payment interoperability is emerging as a critical component of economic integration.

The Yuno-Onafriq alliance suggests that the next stage of Africa’s fintech evolution may not be driven solely by new consumer applications but by the infrastructure connecting millions of users, businesses, banks and mobile money operators across borders.

With a single integration now providing access to hundreds of millions of accounts and wallets, the partnership could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of doing business across Africa, helping global merchants enter new markets faster while supporting the continent’s ambition of becoming a more connected digital economy.