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Interswitch Group, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, has underscored the need for strategic regulatory engagement and partnerships to enable African technology companies to scale seamlessly across the continent.
Speaking during an African Fintech Network (AFN) webinar marking World Fintech Day, themed “Mapping the Path for Fintech License Passporting in Africa”, Interswitch Group CEO, Mitchell Elegbe, shared key insights from the company’s evolution — from a start-up to a pan-African fintech and payments leader operating across diverse markets.
The AFN initiative advocates for a mutually recognised licensing framework to accelerate innovation, streamline compliance, and deepen regional collaboration. Such a framework, proven effective in other regions, could reduce regulatory friction and duplicative licensing requirements, enabling fintechs to scale faster, improve efficiency, and focus on delivering inclusive, market-driven solutions across borders.
Drawing from Interswitch’s experience, Elegbe highlighted the complexity of managing multiple licenses across countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia, and Mauritius — each with distinct procedures, application timelines, and renewal processes.
“We are often tasked with managing partner expectations during the period between license expiry and renewal,” Elegbe noted. “In addition, overlapping regulations remain a challenge, as fintechs in many African countries are regulated by multiple bodies, such as central banks and telecom regulators. This results in duplicated processes, conflicting compliance requirements, and delays in approvals.”
Elegbe stressed that adopting a harmonised licensing approach across Africa would not only foster corporate governance and operational resilience but also drive greater financial inclusion and cross-border trade.
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