“Can a mobile money network with near-zero fees and self-operated e-money licences across West Africa become the default payment infrastructure for businesses and consumers on the continent?”
Wave launched as a direct-to-consumer mobile money service in Senegal in 2018 with a mission to make Africa the first cashless continent by undercutting incumbent mobile money operators on fees. It rapidly expanded across Francophone West Africa and into Anglophone markets (Uganda, Sierra Leone, Gambia), self-issuing electronic money through locally licensed entities rather than relying on a third-party BaaS provider. From ~2022 the company built out a full business-facing API layer (Checkout, Payout, Aggregated Merchants, Balance & Reconciliation), evolving from a consumer wallet into an embedded payments infrastructure platform for African merchants and enterprises.