Stripe has extremely limited coverage in Africa and doesn't support essential payment methods like mobile money, bank transfers, and USSD that are used by 80%+ of African consumers. African payment gateways offer full local market coverage, support for all local payment methods, transparent pricing in local currencies, same-timezone support teams, and deep integration with local banks and mobile money providers. Here are the best Stripe alternatives built specifically for the African market.
⚠️
Why Look for Stripe Alternatives in Africa?
Stripe has extremely limited African coverage with support for only South Africa and Kenya in pilot programs. Critical limitations include: no support for mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money) which is used by 80%+ of African consumers, no USSD payment support for feature phones, no local bank transfer support, high forex conversion fees (3-4%), settlement only in USD requiring additional forex conversion, email-only support in US/European timezones making real-time support impossible, complex pricing not transparent in local currencies, limited fraud prevention for African payment patterns, and no understanding of local payment behaviors. Most African countries are completely unsupported. African payment gateways offer full local market coverage, support for all local payment methods, transparent pricing in local currencies (typically 1.5-2.8%), same-timezone support teams with WhatsApp and phone support, deep integration with local banks and mobile money providers, instant settlement to local bank accounts, and fraud prevention systems trained on African transaction patterns.
Best Stripe Alternatives Built for Africa
1
PaystackCertified
Modern online and offline payments for Africa
Available in:
⭐4.8(1,247)
Per transaction
Paystack is the leading payment infrastructure for Africa, helping businesses accept online and offline payments from customers across the continent. Built specifically for African businesses, Paystack supports cards, bank transfers, mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money), USSD payments, QR codes, and Apple Pay. With transparent pricing of just 1.5% + ₦100 per transaction in Nigeria, excellent developer documentation, comprehensive SDKs for all major programming languages, and local support teams in Lagos, Accra, and Cape Town, Paystack makes it incredibly easy to start accepting payments in minutes. Trusted by over 60,000 businesses including Flutterwave, PiggyVest, Carbon, Kuda Bank, and Cowrywise, Paystack processes over $2 billion in payments annually. The platform offers instant settlements to local bank accounts, advanced fraud prevention, real-time webhooks for transaction notifications, a beautiful checkout experience optimized for mobile devices, detailed analytics and reporting, multi-currency support, subscription billing, payment links for no-code solutions, and splits for marketplaces.
Key Features:
Accept cards, bank transfers, mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN, Airtel), USSD
Multi-currency support (NGN, GHS, ZAR, USD, KES)
Developer-friendly RESTful API with comprehensive webhooks
Real-time transaction notifications and email receipts
Local support teams in Lagos, Accra, Cape Town (African timezones)
PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant security and fraud prevention
Flutterwave is a payment technology company that provides the infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers to process payments across Africa and beyond. With one API integration, businesses can accept payments from customers anywhere in Africa via cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and more. Flutterwave supports payments in 150+ currencies and 34 African countries. The platform powers payments for global companies like Uber, Booking.com, Flywire, and thousands of African businesses. Features include instant settlement, fraud protection with 3D Secure, PCI-DSS compliance, subscription management, payment links, virtual cards for payouts, and comprehensive analytics. Flutterwave has processed over $16 billion in transactions and serves more than 900,000 businesses worldwide.
Key Features:
Accept payments in 34 African countries with one integration
Support for 150+ currencies including all African currencies
Multiple payment methods: cards, mobile money, bank transfers, USSD, vouchers
Instant settlements to local bank accounts
Send money globally with virtual cards and bank transfers
Payment links for social commerce and no-code selling
African payment platforms offer better coverage, lower fees, and support for local payment methods that your customers actually use. Start integrating today and see the difference.
