How much capital does a remittance licence require across African markets?
Across the 11 African markets that publish a minimum-capital figure for a remittance licence, the floor is set by each market's own statute, in that market's own currency — some as a single amount, some tiered by the services the licence authorizes. Below is the record for each market, verbatim and source-linked. Amounts stay in the statute's own currency; Afriset reports the requirement, not a cross-currency comparison — there is no conversion or ranking here.
Regulators name this licence differently market by market: Instituição de transferência de fundos (Funds-transfer institution) in Mozambique, Remittance in Rwanda, Établissement de paiement (Payment institution) in Tunisia, Casa de câmbio autorizada a exercer actividade de remessa de valores (Exchange bureau authorized to carry out money-remittance activity) in Angola, plus 12 more in the table below. Operators ask about this licence in other words: money transfer or MTO/IMTO. Minimum capital is one requirement among several; what it takes in full, market by market, is linked below.
“Cross-border remittance” here is the normalized activity: Provide inbound/outbound cross-border money transfer / remittance services under a dedicated licence, approval or registration (IMTO/MRP/MTSP/ADLA-type). The comparable axis is the minimum-capital floor its licence attaches — structure, tiers and denomination currency differ by market and are shown as published, not converted.
Activity id (as used by the Afriset MCP): fintech:REMITTANCE_XBORDER
Minimum capital, market by market
| Market | Licence category | Minimum capital (as published) | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | Casa de câmbio autorizada a exercer actividade de remessa de valores | Kz 70 000 000,00 — a casa de câmbio authorized for the remittance-of-value service must raise its share capital to the Remessa de Valores minimum (a base casa de câmbio is Kz 50 000 000,00). Verbatim"As Casas de Câmbio autorizadas a exercer serviços de remessas de valores, devem adequar o seu capital social ao mínimo previsto no inciso i) da alínea b) do número anterior … Remessa de Valores – Kz 70 000 000,00 (setenta milhões de Kwanzas)" | Aviso n.º 04/2024, de 16 de Dezembro — Capital Social Mínimo das Instituições Financeiras Não Bancárias (revokes Aviso 05/23; the operative SPSP + casa-de-câmbio capital) | 2024-12-16 |
| Botswana | Non-Account Based Payment Services (Money Remittance Service) | P100 000 (BWP) minimum initial capital for non-account-based (money remittance) services, per Schedule 2 of the EPS Regulations 2019. Verbatim"These are P2 000 000 for Electronic Money Issuance; P1 000 000 for Account Based Payment Services and P100 000 for non-account-based services." | EPS Licensing Guidelines V1.0 (February 2022) — §5.2 (initial capital, citing reg 5(2)(c) + Schedule 2 of the EPS Regulations 2019), §5.6 (incorporation), §5.8 (safeguarding of funds), §5.13 (fees), §6.3 (decision timeline), §7.1 (annual renewal) | 2022-02 |
| Burundi | Établissement de paiement de transmission de fonds à l'international | 300.000.000 BIF (trois cents millions de francs Burundi) minimum share capital, fully subscribed and paid before the agrément (Circulaire 007/SP art. 4). Verbatim"Le capital social minimum d'un établissement de paiement de transmission de fonds à l'international est de trois cents millions (300.000.000 BIF) de francs Burundi." | Circulaire n° 007/SP relative aux établissements de paiement de transmission de fonds à l'international — art. 3 (agrément by the Governor), art. 4 (capital), art. 6 (reporting) | 2024 |
| Ghana | International Money Transfer Operator | Not published. No BoG minimum-capital figure published for IMTO registration — a registration-via-partnership regime, not a capital-based licence; the guidelines set no capital amount. | BoG — Guidelines for the Registration and Operations of IMTOs in Ghana | 2025-12 |
| Kenya | Money Remittance Provider | KES 20,000,000 (minimum core capital, maintained at all times). Historic transitional path was KES 10M rising to KES 20M by 31 Dec 2014 — now the flat standing figure is 20M. Verbatim"it shall at all times maintain a minimum core capital of not less than twenty million shillings. … a minimum core capital of not less than ten million shillings before the commencement of operations and increase the core capital to twenty million shillings by the thirty-first day of December, 2014." | Money Remittance Regulations, 2013 (Legal Notice 66 of 2013) | 2022-12-31 |
| Lesotho | Foreign Exchange Bureau and Money Transfer | Not published. The Financial Institutions (Money Transfer) Regulations, 2014 publish no minimum-capital figure for a money-transfer business — the application asks for a "Proposed Capital Structure" without a statutory floor. A genuine structural absence. | Financial Institutions (Money Transfer) Regulations, 2014 (LN No. 14 of 2014) — Schedule IV (fees) | 2014-02-24 |
| Morocco | Établissement de paiement spécialisé, exclusivement, en matière de transfert de fonds | MAD 6,000,000 (six millions de dirhams) — the minimum paid-up capital or fully-versed endowment of a payment institution licensed exclusively for funds-transfer operations. Verbatim"1- 6.000.000,00 DH (six millions de dirhams) pour les sociétés agréées pour effectuer exclusivement des opérations de transfert de fonds." | Circulaire du Wali de Bank Al-Maghrib n° 8/W/2016 (10 juin 2016) inserting Art. 2 bis (établissement de paiement minimum capital) into circ. 20/G/2006, as homologated (BO n° 6666 du 19-4-2018) | 2016-06-10 |
| Mozambique | Instituição de transferência de fundos | Not published. Decreto 50/2024 fixes no metical minimum-capital amount for a funds-transfer institution; the pre-2024 figures are in the revoked Decreto 99/2019 and no operative published figure was located this build. | Decreto n.º 50/2024, de 11 de Julho — Regulamento da Lei das Instituições de Crédito e Sociedades Financeiras (LICSF); the EPSP regime lives in arts. 51–59 (revokes Decretos 56/2004, 57/2004, 31/2006, 30/2014 and 99/2019, the EPSP decree) | 2024-07-11 |
| Nigeria | International Money Transfer Operators (IMTO) | US$1,000,000 for foreign IMTOs; "the equivalent" for indigenous IMTOs Verbatim"Minimum share capital of US$1million for foreign IMTOs and the equivalent for indigenous IMTOs" | CBN, Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (Revised — January 2024). | 2024-01 |
| Rwanda | Remittance | FRW 30,000,000 (Reg 74/2023 Category III) Verbatim"An applicant wishing to be licensed under payment services category III, must have a initial capital of not less FRW 30,000,000." | Regulation N° 74/2023 of 18/09/2023 governing payment service providers (Official Gazette n° 38 Bis of 25/09/2023) | 2023-09-25 |
| Seychelles | Payment service provider | Initial capital, held before grant, tiered by service (Schedule V, reaffirmed current by SI 99/2025 reg 15(3)): SCR 500,000 for a money-remittance service; SCR 1,000,000 for another payment service; SCR 5,000,000 for an operator of a payment, clearing or settlement system. Verbatim"Payment Service i) money remittance SCR 500,000 ii) other payment service SCR 1,000,000 Operator of a payment, clearing or settlement system SCR 5,000,000" | NPS (Licensing and Authorisation) Regulations 2014 — Schedule V (initial capital) + reg 5 (21-day completeness, 60-day decision) | 2014-12-29 |
| Somalia | Money Transfer Business | Not published. The Money Transfer Business Licensing Regulations 2014 fix no minimum-capital figure: capital is required « commensurate with the risk exposures assumed » (a risk-based, fit-and-proper requirement), with no official amount published. The quantified US$60,000 is a PERFORMANCE SECURITY (reg 20, Section 54(1) FIL) — a security deposit carried as an ongoing obligation, never presented as minimum capital. | Central Bank of Somalia — Money Transfer Business Licensing Regulations, 2014 (CBS/NBS/REG/0002, under ss. 50/54/120 of the Financial Institutions Law) — reg 11 (fee), regs 14/18/20 (timeline + performance security), regs 30–31 (annual renewal) | 2014 |
| South Africa | Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange with Limited Authority - Category 3 | ZAR 5,000,000 (R5 million) minimum unimpaired capital — in place before commencing and maintained for the lifetime of operations. Verbatim"…the minimum unimpaired capital requirement of R2 million … for a category one ADLA, R3 million for a category two ADLA, R5 million for a category three ADLA and R8 million for a category four ADLA … An ADLA shall during the lifetime of its operations maintain a minimum unimpaired capital fund … (cc) Category Three: R5 million." | SARB FinSurv — Currency and Exchanges Manual for ADLAs (v1.86; cover 2026-05-25) | 2026-05-25 |
| Tanzania | Money Transfer Service Provider | Not published. The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations 2015 require documentary evidence of paid-up capital (reg 6(h)) but publish no numeric minimum-capital threshold for the Remittance category - the First Schedule sets licence fees only. | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Tunisia | Établissement de paiement | 5 000 000 dinars (TND) minimum capital for an établissement de paiement, per loi n° 2016-48 art. 32; the capital must be fully paid up on creation. Verbatim"les établissements de paiement et dont le capital ne peut être inférieur à 5 000 000 dinars" | Loi n° 2016-48 du 11 juillet 2016 relative aux banques et aux établissements financiers — art. 20 (EP perimeter), arts. 28–32 (agrément process + timeline), art. 31 (société anonyme), art. 32 (capital) | 2016-07-15 |
| Uganda | Money Remittance Operator | Current: UGX 200,000,000 (10,000 currency points × UGX 20,000). [Superseded 2006 figure: 2,500 CP = UGX 50,000,000.] Verbatim"The minimum paid up share capital to carry out money remittance business shall be ten thousand currency points. … a minimum paid-up share capital of two thousand and five hundred currency points" | Foreign Exchange (Amendment) Act, 2023 | 2023 |
| Zambia | Money Transfer Service Provider | Not published. No published number. Delegated to BoZ (s.87); applicant evidences initial capital, no ZMW minimum stated. | National Payment System Act, 2026 (Act No. 5 of 2026) — enabling Act, categories + delegation | 2026-04-08 |
Each figure is the minimum capital as published in the cited instrument, in the statute's own currency — not legal or compliance advice, and not converted or ranked across currencies. A tiered floor is shown in full, never reduced to one tier. Where a figure is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists without publishing it. Verify current requirements with the regulator. Rules, not rates: amounts are the published requirement, never an exchange rate.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · unchanged since the previous check.
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