• NALA has secured PSP and PSO licenses from the Bank of Uganda, adding to its 2024 Money Remittance license.

• Backed by $40M in Series A funding and rapid growth (10x revenue, 34x transaction volume), NALA plans to launch diaspora accounts, enable global business payouts via Rafiki.com, and build real-time cross-border payment rails.

• Entering a $133B mobile money market projected to reach $1.15T by 2033 (25.73% CAGR), NALA joins a competitive landscape alongside MTN, Airtel, Wave, Chipper Cash, and WorldRemit.

Fintech Company NALA, announced on December 22 it has been granted Payment Service Provider (PSP) and Payment System Operator (PSO) licenses by the Central Bank of Uganda, adding to its existing Money Remittance license secured in 2024.

The triple licensing “positions NALA as one of the few companies fully licensed across the core layers of Uganda’s regulated payments infrastructure — and enables us to go much deeper on what matters next,” said NALA Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes.

With the newly granted licenses, NALA plans to expand its service offerings in Uganda by developing global and diaspora accounts for individual consumers, enabling collections and payouts for international businesses through its Rafiki.com platform, establishing real-time cross-border payment capabilities, and facilitating trade flows into and out of Uganda via direct integration with global payment networks.

The licensing milestone comes amid a period of rapid growth for NALA. The company has reported a tenfold increase in revenue and a 34-fold surge in transaction volume, serving nearly 500,000 customers worldwide. In September 2024, the company raised $40 million in Series A funding to support its expansion.

This expansion into Uganda comes at a pivotal moment in the country’s rapidly evolving digital payments landscape. According to Research and Markets, Uganda’s mobile money market reached USD 133.0 billion in 2024 and is projected to soar to USD 1.15 trillion by 2033, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.73% between 2025 and 2033. This trajectory highlights the nation’s accelerating shift toward mobile-first financial services and presents a compelling opportunity for fintechs like NALA to deepen their infrastructure and broaden their product offerings in a high-growth environment.

NALA enters a competitive but promising market. It will contend with established players such as MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money, which dominate domestic mobile money services through vast agent networks. Other fintech challengers include Wave, Chipper Cash, Eversend, and global remittance platforms like WorldRemit and Sendwave.

Hikmatu Bilali