Rating Release
Agusto & Co. assigns a ‘Bbb’ rating to Payaza Africa Limited, with a stable outlook
The rating expires on 30 June 2026.
Agusto & Co. hereby assigns a “Bbb” rating to Payaza Africa Limited (“Payaza”, “PAL” or “the Company”). The rating reflects the Company’s overall satisfactory financial condition, underpinned by a rapid settlement cycle which promotes internal liquidity and minimise the appetite for external borrowings. The rating is further strengthened by Payaza’s strategic alliances with two of the world’s leading card network – Mastercard and VISA, which expands its market coverage and strengthen its transaction processing capabilities. In addition, the rating considers the technical strength of the Company’s end-to-end payment gateway system, as well as its investments in critical risk and information security infrastructures aimed at building trust and securing more opportunities in the market. Based on the plans by management to extend its services to new economic corridors, coupled with the strategic intent to onboard more small and medium-scale businesses to its payment ecosystem, we anticipate sustained top line growth. Nevertheless, the rating is moderated by the Company’s over-dependence on income flow from cross-border transactions, which predispose the business to global uncertainties and trans-national regulatory risk, among other issues. The rating also reflects our broader concerns regarding the Company’s limited operating history, coupled with the inherent vulnerability of digitised payment services to illicit activities and potential control breaches, despite the presence of a robust fraud detection system.
Payaza Africa Limited is a payment service provider, established on 23 March 2022 to carry out the business of collecting customer payments on behalf of merchants and processing bulk payouts, leveraging its robust digital infrastructures and the Mastercard Payment Gateway Solutions (MPGS). As at 30 April 2025, Payaza’s license coverage spans over 10 African countries, all 50 states in the US and Canada, with imminent plans to obtain licenses in the Middle-East and Mexico. In 2024, the Company’s transaction volume reached $4.6 billion, reflecting growth in its operating capacity. Given ongoing expansion initiatives, we expect this to increase even further in the future.
