Bamboo expands its global payments infrastructure with payins and payouts across Africa

March 16, 2026

As global commerce becomes increasingly cross-border, building scalable and reliable payment infrastructure is critical.

At Bamboo, we continue to strengthen our global payments network to support merchants operating across complex and fast-growing markets. As part of this expansion, Bamboo now enables payins and payouts across 11 African markets, including Egypt and key Sub-Saharan countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.

This expansion brings Bamboo’s coverage to 33 markets worldwide, reinforcing our ability to help merchants operate locally while managing payments through a unified global infrastructure.

Why global payment infrastructure matters more than ever

The global payments ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly. Industry analysis shows that the total payments market is expected to reach US$3.0 trillion by 2029, driven by digital wallets, account-to-account rails and new settlement technologies that are redefining how money moves globally.

At the same time, digital payments adoption is accelerating across regions, fueled by mobile-first behavior, expanding e-commerce and increasing cross-border activity.

This broader landscape is reshaping how businesses (and merchants in particular) think about payments infrastructure, execution and scale.

Africa as a case of evolving payment ecosystems

Africa offers a clear example of how payment ecosystems are evolving outside traditional card-centric models.

Rather than following the conventional path from cash to cards to mobile, many African markets have developed payment ecosystems centered on digital and account-based models, resulting in structural differences compared to mature, card-centric markets.

This evolution has enabled scale, but it has also shaped how payments work in practice for merchants operating across multiple countries.

Consumer behavior and merchant infrastructure are not the same

Across Africa, payment behavior varies widely by market and use case.

While everyday consumer payments are often mobile-first, merchant operations rely on a different layer of infrastructure.

Beyond consumer preferences for wallets or emerging payment methods, account-to-account and bank transfer rails are increasingly relevant for businesses due to their lower costs, reconciliation simplicity and alignment with global payment trends.

For structured payment flows (such as merchant payins, settlement and cross-border operations) bank transfers continue to play a central role, providing predictability, clarity and regulatory alignment for global companies operating across multiple markets.

This distinction is critical for merchants looking to move from opportunity to execution.

The real challenge for global merchants

Demand is not the issue. Execution is.

Merchants operating across African markets often face:

Fragmented payment rails across countries
Limited or inconsistent payout options
Regulatory and compliance complexity
Multiple providers and settlement flows
Operational friction when scaling regionally

At the same time, regulatory change and the push for interoperability are reshaping payment infrastructure, making it increasingly important to work with partners that can deliver reliable cross-border payins and payouts.

Enabling execution with payins and payouts

By enabling bank-based payins and reliable local-currency payouts across 11 African markets, Bamboo provides a practical entry point for global merchants expanding their operations across the continent.

Merchants can:

Accept incoming funds through bank transfers
Execute structured, compliant local payouts
Operate without setting up local entities
Integrate African markets into a broader cross-border payments strategy

For global merchants, scaling across African markets depends on payment infrastructure built for execution — not theory.

As Bamboo continues to expand its global payments capabilities, our focus remains the same: enabling merchants to operate reliably, locally and at scale across complex markets.

If payments are a key part of your expansion strategy and you want to understand how to execute reliably across African markets, we’d be happy to talk.

Regulatory note: Payment services in African markets are provided through licensed local partners, in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.