VALR and Onafriq Deliver Mobile Money Access to Digital Assets for Millions Across Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa, April 9th, 2026, Chainwire
VALR, Africa’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, has integrated with Onafriq, the continent’s leading digital payments gateway. This partnership enables VALR users across Africa to fund their accounts directly through mobile money in local currencies, significantly broadening access to digital financial services for millions of people.
Mobile Money’s Role in African Financial Inclusion
Mobile money serves as a foundational element of financial services in Africa, facilitating everyday transactions, remittances, savings, and credit in areas with limited traditional banking access. According to the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025, global registered mobile money accounts reached 2.1 billion by the end of 2024, with over half a billion monthly active users. The sector processed approximately 108 billion transactions valued at more than $1.68 trillion in 2024, reflecting 20% year-on-year growth in volume and 16% in value.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money continues to drive substantial economic impact, contributing around $190 billion to GDP in 2023 alone. This growth is supported by interoperable networks that enable payments across major local currencies, including the Kenyan Shilling, Nigerian Naira, Ghanaian Cedi, and Ugandan Shilling, and through mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa and MTN MoMo. In the majority of these markets, mobile money usage for domestic transactions far outweighs traditional methods such as credit cards and direct bank transfers, according to complementary insights from the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 report, making acceptance of mobile money crucial to successful market entry.
Onafriq operates Africa’s largest digital payments network, connecting nearly 1 billion mobile money wallets across 43 markets. The integration utilises this extensive infrastructure to allow direct, local-currency deposits to VALR, settled in stablecoins or selected crypto, streamlining access and reducing dependence on conventional banking systems.
Enabling Broader Participation in VALR’s Financial Product Suite
Through this integration, with VALR and Onafriq processing all settlements using stablecoins, users in supported markets can deposit funds via mobile money and engage with VALR’s comprehensive offerings. These include spot and margin trading for Bitcoin and over 100 crypto assets, tokenised real-world assets such as gold, equities, and private credit, yield products like lending and staking, and VALR Pay for efficient payments.
By integrating mobile money on-ramps, the partnership facilitates easier entry into global digital markets using established local payment methods.
VALR’s Leadership in Promoting Financial Inclusion
VALR holds a prominent position in Africa’s digital asset sector, serving over 1.7 million registered users and 2,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide. Licensed by South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and with regulatory approval in Europe, VALR is dedicated to building inclusive financial systems.
“VALR’s partnership with Onafriq deepens our reach across Africa and the world, connecting many more countries and people to VALR’s wide array of crypto asset services and infrastructure,” said Farzam Ehsani, Co-Founder and CEO of VALR. “Mobile money has already reshaped financial access across the African continent. By enabling direct connections in local currencies, we offer millions a practical pathway to Bitcoin, stablecoins, tokenised gold, and more, as well as innovative financial tools, supporting greater economic participation for everyone.”
Onafriq’s Founder and CEO, Dare Okoudjou, highlighted the significance of the partnership for financial connectivity across the continent. “We are truly excited to welcome VALR onto the Onafriq Network, enabling their clients across Africa to transact freely with the 1bn mobile wallet users and hundreds of thousands of businesses already on Onafriq’s network. VALR is a recognised pioneer and leader of Blockchain and Stablecoin technologies on the continent and we look forward to working with them to bring the many benefits of these technologies to people and businesses across Africa.”
About VALR
Founded in 2018, headquartered in Johannesburg, and backed by leading investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital, VALR is a global crypto exchange offering a comprehensive suite of products—including Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, Staking, Lending, Borrowing, OTC services, VALR Invest, Crypto Bundles, and VALR Pay. Licensed by South Africa’s FSCA, with regulatory approval in Europe, VALR serves over 1.7 million registered users and 2,000 corporate and institutional clients worldwide. The exchange is dedicated to advancing a just financial future that upholds human dignity and the unity of mankind. For more information, visit valr.com.
About Onafriq
Onafriq is an omnichannel network of networks, making borders matter less by providing our partners with a single pathway to unlock the full power of cross-border and cross-platform payment solutions. With a network spanning 43 African markets, Onafriq connects over 1 billion mobile money wallets, 500 million bank accounts, and over 400,000 agents in Nigeria, enabling domestic and cross-border disbursements and collections, card issuing and processing, agency banking, and treasury services.
At Onafriq, we bring together global and regional enterprises, mobile network operators, money transfer operators, banks, fintechs, global development organizations, and online and offline merchants. With top-notch regulatory and compliance capabilities and a robust regional presence encompassing 10 offices in Africa, as well as locations in the UK, US, and China, we are paving the way for a new era of access for people across the African continent and beyond. Learn more at onafriq.com.