Zambia (ZM)
Lead Signal
Zambia's Cyber Security Act, 2025 designates banking and finance—including payment gateways and core banking systems—as critical information infrastructure subject to registration, data localisation, annual audits and incident-reporting to the new Zambia Cyber Security Agency; non-compliance penalties up to ZMW1,200,000 and/or 10 years' imprisonment. The law's companion Cyber Crimes Act 2025 was enacted alongside it, and this pairing is assessed as the single most material operational-resilience development to emerge from this cycle's review. Zambia's central bank has direct experience of the risks the new framework targets: Bank of Zambia was hit by a Hive ransomware attack in 2022, in which it declined to pay the ransom and reported minimal system damage, and suffered a Facebook account hack in July 2023. Civil-society and legal-sector voices have already begun contesting how the new architecture is governed: the Law Association of Zambia and a wider civil-society coalition criticised the Cyber Security Agency's placement under the Office of the President as lacking independent governance and parliamentary oversight, a concern with direct bearing on how critical-payments-infrastructure oversight will be exercised in practice.
Outlook
Two forward markers frame the next review window. Bank of Zambia's CBDC framework and pilot phase are expected to reach completion around 2026-Q4, closing out the 2024-2026 plan period, while the National Financial Inclusion Strategy II runs through 2028-Q4, continuing to set interoperability, agent-exclusivity and inclusion targets. The more immediate marker, however, is procedural: the ministerial commencement instrument for the National Payment System Act 2026 remains outstanding, and Bank of Zambia's Cyber Security Agency compliance-onboarding cycle is now underway following the April 2025 Cyber Security Act enactment, with annual audit and reporting obligations already active for payment gateways and core banking systems. Both threads warrant close tracking into the next cycle.
Other Developments
Zambia's payments-licensing architecture is itself mid-transition. The National Payment System Act, 2026 was enacted 8 April 2026, repealing and replacing the National Payment Systems Act 2007, but it awaits ministerial commencement via statutory instrument; the 2007 Act framework remains operative pending that instrument, and this cycle's review could not independently verify commencement status against a Gazette instrument as of the 4 July 2026 baseline. Separately, a parliamentary committee reviewing the preceding National Payment System Bill 2025 flagged that its restructuring and insolvency provisions for payment service providers could create procedural uncertainty against the existing Corporate Insolvency Act, and recommended harmonisation.
On digital money, Bank of Zambia's plan calls for establishing a CBDC framework between 2024 and 2026, including implementation and supervision regulations plus a pilot exploring possible use cases, though named pilot use-cases have not yet been published. Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Zambia, and the Bank of Zambia Act vests exclusive note and coin issuance in the central bank.
Corridor dynamics continue to deepen: Zambia joined the SADC-RTGS as a participant in September 2014 via BoZ and nine commercial banks, and the system interlinks with PAPSS and COMESA REPSS; PAPSS itself, launched January 2022, connects ten central banks including Zambia and supports real-time local-currency settlement, though it has not yet disrupted entrenched correspondent-banking pathways. Commercially, MTN Mobile Money Zambia launched a service enabling customers to send money directly from wallets to international bank accounts in the EU, UK and Canada, described as Zambia's first direct wallet-to-bank international transfer offering.
Industry structure shows an oligopolistic telecom/mobile-money market—Airtel Zambia holds roughly 48% subscriber share and MTN Zambia 33-35%, with state-owned Zamtel the remainder—and Airtel Networks Zambia Plc surpassed $1 billion market capitalisation on the Lusaka Securities Exchange on 8 June 2026. Standard Chartered is separately reported to be exploring a potential sale of its wealth and retail banking units in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia, an unconfirmed development that would signal a possible market-structure shift among incumbent international banks. On the consumer side, a World Bank diagnostic found Bank of Zambia lacks a dedicated, adequately resourced consumer-protection function—roughly five officers covering both banking and financial consumer protection—even as cybercrime including phishing and social-media fraud has cost the Zambian economy over K111 million, feeding political momentum for the 2025 cyber-law framework; no dedicated APP-fraud mandatory-reimbursement regime exists.
Cross-Monitor Connections
Zambia remains in FATF/ESAAMLG enhanced follow-up: a 2022 follow-up report found progress on some technical-compliance deficiencies but downgraded Recommendations 2, 5 and 7. The Financial Intelligence Centre is the designated AML/CFT supervisor for Virtual Asset Service Providers absent a dedicated VASP licensing regulator, applying FATF Recommendation 15 requirements including suspicious-transaction-report filing on attempted transactions. This AML/CFT posture, and any illicit-finance or sanctions-evasion analysis arising from it, is flagged to the Financial Intelligence Monitor rather than assessed here; the Sentinel-fed W11 material is carried in this monitor as provenance only.
Domains
14 regulatory modules · click to expand the full sub-briefLicensing, Authorisation & Market Access
ConfirmedZambia's payments-licensing regime is in transition.
Conduct, Safeguarding & Promotions
HighBank of Zambia's 2024 update to the unwarranted-charges regime for electronic money services prohibits wallet deposit fees, merchant/bill-payment surcharges, failed-transaction charges, balance-inquiry fees, and wallet opening/closing/reactivation fees.
Stablecoins & Digital Money
HighZambia has no stablecoin-specific statute.
Operational Resilience & Critical Infra
HighZambia's Cyber Security Act, 2025 designates banking and finance, including payment gateways and core banking systems, as critical information infrastructure subject to registration, data localisation, annual audits and incident-reporting to the new Zambia Cyber Security Agency, with non-compliance penalties up to ZMW1,200,000 and/or 10 years' imprisonment.
Scheme & Network Compliance
HighZIPSS, Zambia's RTGS system, was upgraded and went live on 14 October 2023, transitioning to ISO 20022 messaging and changing system topology from Y-Copy to V-Mode.
Payment Corridor Dynamics
HighZambia joined the SADC-RTGS as a participant in September 2014, via BoZ and nine commercial banks, and the system interlinks with PAPSS and COMESA REPSS.
Full per-domain detail — all 14 modules
W1aConfirmedLicensing, Authorisation & Market Access
see this theme across all jurisdictions →6 claimsZambia's payment licensing regime rests on the NPSA 2007, now being replaced by the National Payment System Act 2026 (pending commencement); BoZ is sole licensing/designating authority; foreign PSPs must obtain BoZ licensing regardless of physical presence; foreign banks face a $100m capital bar vs $20m for domestic banks.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access
Zambia's payments-licensing regime is in transition. The National Payment System Act, 2026 was enacted 8 April 2026, repealing and replacing the National Payment Systems Act 2007, but it awaits ministerial commencement via statutory instrument; the 2007 Act framework remains operative pending that instrument. This cycle's review flagged that commencement status as of the 4 July 2026 baseline could not be independently verified against a Gazette instrument, holding confidence at High rather than Confirmed. Separately, foreign-owned banks face a $100 million minimum capital requirement versus $20 million for domestic banks, and commercial banks are licensed via the Registrar of Banks, Financial Institutions and Financial Businesses housed at Bank of Zambia. The foreign-PSP licensing pathway is active in practice: Flutterwave, the Nigerian payments company, obtained a Zambian payment licence in early 2025 to facilitate local mobile money and cross-border payments, illustrating that foreign PSPs must obtain Bank of Zambia licensing regardless of physical presence.
Outlook
The pending ministerial commencement instrument for the National Payment System Act 2026 is the key marker to watch; until it is gazetted, the 2007 Act continues to govern licensing and designation, creating a transition window in which both regimes are referenced but only one is operative.
Zambia's payment licensing regime rests on the NPSA 2007, now being replaced by the National Payment System Act 2026 (pending commencement); BoZ is sole licensing/designating authority; foreign PSPs must obtain BoZ licensing regardless of physical presence; foreign banks face a $100m capital bar vs $20m for domestic banks.
Evidence — 6 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Conduct/safeguarding rules sit in BoZ directives under BFSA s.167 and NPSA-derived e-money directives, supplemented by a weak voluntary Bankers Association Code; BoZ consumer-protection capacity remains thin.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Conduct, Safeguarding & Financial Promotions
Bank of Zambia's 2024 update to the unwarranted-charges regime for electronic money services prohibits wallet deposit fees, merchant/bill-payment surcharges, failed-transaction charges, balance-inquiry fees, and wallet opening/closing/reactivation fees. Yet a World Bank diagnostic found Bank of Zambia lacks a dedicated, adequately resourced consumer-protection function, with roughly five officers covering both banking and financial consumer protection, and found the voluntary Bankers' Code of Practice has limited enforcement mechanisms.
Outlook
The gap between an increasingly detailed conduct-rulebook and thin supervisory capacity is the module's defining tension; safeguarding specifics for e-money customer funds remain undetailed in available sources and are a standing research gap.
Conduct/safeguarding rules sit in BoZ directives under BFSA s.167 and NPSA-derived e-money directives, supplemented by a weak voluntary Bankers Association Code; BoZ consumer-protection capacity remains thin.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
No stablecoin-specific statute; crypto not legal tender; BoZ CBDC plan runs 2024-2026 including a pilot; Currency Directives 2025 reaffirm Kwacha as sole legal tender.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Stablecoins & Digital Money
Zambia has no stablecoin-specific statute. Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Zambia; the Bank of Zambia Act vests exclusive note and coin issuance in the central bank, and Bank of Zambia has not issued any form of cryptocurrency to date. Bank of Zambia's plan calls for establishing a CBDC framework between 2024 and 2026, including implementation and supervision regulations plus a pilot exploring possible use cases, though named pilot use-cases have not yet been published. The Directive on Electronic Money Issuance, dated 14 July 2023, updates the 2018 National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, governing e-money issuer authorisation and conduct.
Outlook
The CBDC pilot's named use-cases and the underlying customer-fund safeguarding mechanism for e-money issuers are the two clearest disclosure gaps to watch into the next cycle.
No stablecoin-specific statute; crypto not legal tender; BoZ CBDC plan runs 2024-2026 including a pilot; Currency Directives 2025 reaffirm Kwacha as sole legal tender.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Operational resilience now sits substantially under the Cyber Security Act 2025 and Cyber Crimes Act 2025, designating payment gateways/core banking as critical infrastructure with registration, localisation, audit and incident-reporting duties.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure
Zambia's Cyber Security Act, 2025 designates banking and finance, including payment gateways and core banking systems, as critical information infrastructure subject to registration, data localisation, annual audits and incident-reporting to the new Zambia Cyber Security Agency, with non-compliance penalties up to ZMW1,200,000 and/or 10 years' imprisonment. Bank of Zambia was hit by a Hive ransomware attack in 2022, declining to pay the ransom and reporting minimal system damage, and suffered a Facebook account hack in July 2023. Following losses of over K111 million to online scammers, ZM-CIRT piloted a *707# short-code allowing citizens to report suspicious numbers, resulting in over 10,000 SIM deactivations in Q1 2025.
Outlook
Compliance-onboarding against the new critical-infrastructure regime is the immediate operational marker; how the Zambia Cyber Security Agency exercises its registration, localisation and audit powers over payment-gateway operators will be the clearest test of the law's practical bite.
Operational resilience now sits substantially under the Cyber Security Act 2025 and Cyber Crimes Act 2025, designating payment gateways/core banking as critical infrastructure with registration, localisation, audit and incident-reporting duties.
Evidence — 6 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Domestic switch/directive framework governs ATM/POS/mobile transactions; ZIPSS modernised to ISO 20022 in 2023; international scheme compliance runs via global Visa/Mastercard rulebooks absent a bespoke domestic interchange statute.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Scheme & Network Compliance
ZIPSS, Zambia's RTGS system, was upgraded and went live on 14 October 2023, transitioning to ISO 20022 messaging and changing system topology from Y-Copy to V-Mode. Debit-card industry participants must undergo PCI DSS certification before Visa or Mastercard will admit them to the network; the National Financial Switch at ZECHL, Visa and Mastercard are the major interconnecting payment companies. No dedicated Zambian interchange-fee statute distinct from these global scheme rulebooks was located.
Outlook
Scheme compliance in Zambia continues to run primarily through international Visa/Mastercard rulebooks rather than a bespoke domestic interchange statute; that structural gap is unlikely to close without a distinct legislative initiative.
Domestic switch/directive framework governs ATM/POS/mobile transactions; ZIPSS modernised to ISO 20022 in 2023; international scheme compliance runs via global Visa/Mastercard rulebooks absent a bespoke domestic interchange statute.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Principal cross-border rails are SADC-RTGS, COMESA REPSS, PAPSS and SADC TCIB; MNOs are opening new direct international mobile-money corridors.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Payment Corridor Dynamics
Zambia joined the SADC-RTGS as a participant in September 2014, via BoZ and nine commercial banks, and the system interlinks with PAPSS and COMESA REPSS. PAPSS, launched January 2022, connects ten central banks including Zambia, supporting real-time local-currency settlement, though it has not yet disrupted entrenched correspondent-banking pathways. MTN Mobile Money Zambia launched a service enabling customers to send money directly from wallets to international bank accounts in the EU, UK and Canada, described as Zambia's first direct wallet-to-bank international transfer offering.
Outlook
The corridor picture is one of deepening regional-rail access alongside a newly opened mobile-money international channel; whether other mobile-network operators follow MTN's wallet-to-bank model is the marker to watch.
Principal cross-border rails are SADC-RTGS, COMESA REPSS, PAPSS and SADC TCIB; MNOs are opening new direct international mobile-money corridors.
Evidence — 6 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Oligopolistic mobile/telecom market layered on a concentrated 19-bank sector; ~50-69 active fintechs; Airtel Zambia crossed $1bn market cap June 2026.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Industry Structure & Commercial Dynamics
Zambia's mobile-money market is oligopolistic: Airtel Zambia holds roughly 48% subscriber share and MTN Zambia 33-35%, with state-owned Zamtel the remainder, and both major incumbents extend mobile-money ecosystems into savings, loans and insurance. Airtel Networks Zambia Plc surpassed $1 billion market capitalisation on the Lusaka Securities Exchange on 8 June 2026, reflecting investor confidence in its data and mobile-money portfolio. Standard Chartered is reported to be exploring a potential sale of its wealth and retail banking units in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia, signalling a possible market-structure shift among incumbent international banks; the report is unconfirmed and deal terms are undisclosed.
Outlook
Whether the rumoured Standard Chartered divestiture materialises is the clearest market-structure marker for the next cycle, set against continuing mobile-money-led consolidation among the incumbent telecoms.
Oligopolistic mobile/telecom market layered on a concentrated 19-bank sector; ~50-69 active fintechs; Airtel Zambia crossed $1bn market cap June 2026.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Payments-legal infrastructure defined by BoZ Act 2022 penalty powers rather than developed litigation; parliamentary scrutiny flagged NPS Bill 2025/Corporate Insolvency Act overlap; civil society criticised Cyber Security Agency oversight.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Legal & Litigation
A parliamentary committee reviewing the National Payment System Bill 2025 flagged that its restructuring and insolvency provisions for payment service providers could create procedural uncertainty against the existing Corporate Insolvency Act, and recommended harmonisation. No private enforcement actions are available in Zambia's AML/CFT space; only the Financial Intelligence Centre, Drug Enforcement Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission and Police hold enforcement powers. The Law Association of Zambia and a wider civil-society coalition criticised the Cyber Security Agency's placement under the Office of the President as lacking independent governance and parliamentary oversight.
Outlook
Named payments-specific court-case citations remain absent from available sources, a standing research gap; how the insolvency-harmonisation recommendation is handled during the National Payment System Act 2026 commencement process is the marker to watch.
Payments-legal infrastructure defined by BoZ Act 2022 penalty powers rather than developed litigation; parliamentary scrutiny flagged NPS Bill 2025/Corporate Insolvency Act overlap; civil society criticised Cyber Security Agency oversight.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Card acquiring/issuing restricted to BoZ-licensed banks; fintechs access rails via BIN-sponsorship; POS share of card transactions growing; acceptance concentrated in urban/tourist centres.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Merchant Acquiring & Risk
Only Bank of Zambia-licensed banks are authorised to issue payment cards in Zambia; fintechs such as Union54 access card rails via bank BIN-sponsorship arrangements. POS transactions represented 64% of all card transactions in 2022, up from 51% in 2021, though acceptance remains concentrated in urban and tourist centres with cash dominant elsewhere.
Outlook
Continued POS-share growth alongside a persistently bank-only issuing structure suggests fintech card products will keep depending on sponsorship arrangements rather than direct issuing licences in the near term.
Card acquiring/issuing restricted to BoZ-licensed banks; fintechs access rails via BIN-sponsorship; POS share of card transactions growing; acceptance concentrated in urban/tourist centres.
Evidence — 4 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- D
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Innovation architecture rests on BoZ Regulatory Sandbox (2021) and SEC sandbox, NFIS interoperability push, BoZ CBDC plan, and product launches from MTN, Airtel Money, Union54 and Lupiya.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Product Innovation & Market Development
Bank of Zambia's Guidelines for Conducting Regulatory Sandbox, effective 1 April 2021, allow fintech companies to test products under regulatory supervision, complemented by a parallel SEC capital-markets sandbox. Union54, founded 2020 in Lusaka, provides a debit-card-issuing API allowing software companies to issue debit cards without needing a bank or card processor directly. Airtel Money Zambia launched a digital community-savings-group product allowing groups to handle deposits, withdrawals and member contributions with real-time transaction tracking.
Outlook
The sandbox architecture and steady product launches from telco-affiliated and independent fintechs point to continued innovation activity, running alongside the National Financial Inclusion Strategy II's interoperability and inclusion targets through 2028.
Innovation architecture rests on BoZ Regulatory Sandbox (2021) and SEC sandbox, NFIS interoperability push, BoZ CBDC plan, and product launches from MTN, Airtel Money, Union54 and Lupiya.
Evidence — 6 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
Consumer protection runs through BoZ unwarranted-charges/complaints directives, backstopped by a weak voluntary code and underused CCPC/Small Claims routes; APP-style fraud risk politically salient but with no dedicated reimbursement regime.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Consumer Protection & APP Fraud
Consumers levied an unwarranted charge should first raise the matter with their financial service provider, and if unresolved, escalate directly to Bank of Zambia, under the framework set by the Customer Complaints Handling and Resolution Directives. The Small Claims Court has jurisdiction over consumer complaints on banking and financial services but is understood not to be used in practice for such complaints; the World Bank recommends an independent external dispute-resolution scheme. Cybercrime including phishing and social-media fraud has cost the Zambian economy over K111 million, providing political momentum for the 2025 cyber-law framework, though no dedicated APP-fraud mandatory-reimbursement regime exists.
Outlook
The absence of a UK-PSR-style mandatory reimbursement regime, set against a politically salient scam wave and thin consumer-protection resourcing, is the clearest structural vulnerability in this module to track into the next cycle.
Consumer protection runs through BoZ unwarranted-charges/complaints directives, backstopped by a weak voluntary code and underused CCPC/Small Claims routes; APP-style fraud risk politically salient but with no dedicated reimbursement regime.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
AML/CFT posture carried via the FIC-centred framework, PPMLA, Anti-Terrorism/Proliferation legislation and BoZ 2017 AML/CFT/PF Directives; Zambia is an ESAAMLG member remaining in FATF enhanced follow-up.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
AML/CFT & Financial Crime
This module is Sentinel-fed; the Financial Intelligence Centre, established under the FIC Act No.46 of 2010, is the sole designated agency for receiving, analysing and disseminating suspicious transaction reports, with reporting entities including commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions and DNFBPs. A 2022 FATF/ESAAMLG follow-up report found progress on some technical-compliance deficiencies but downgraded Recommendations 2, 5 and 7, and Zambia remains in enhanced follow-up. The Financial Intelligence Centre is the designated AML/CFT supervisor for Virtual Asset Service Providers absent a dedicated VASP licensing regulator, applying FATF Recommendation 15 requirements including suspicious-transaction-report filing on attempted transactions. Per methodology, this monitor carries the Sentinel feed as provenance and does not perform original illicit-finance analysis; see the Financial Intelligence Monitor for that assessment.
Outlook
Zambia's enhanced-follow-up status under FATF/ESAAMLG, and the absence of a dedicated VASP licensing regulator, are the two AML/CFT markers to watch, both routed to the Financial Intelligence Monitor for substantive analysis.
AML/CFT posture carried via the FIC-centred framework, PPMLA, Anti-Terrorism/Proliferation legislation and BoZ 2017 AML/CFT/PF Directives; Zambia is an ESAAMLG member remaining in FATF enhanced follow-up.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- True
Event Findings
Correspondent banking access appears stable; no lost relationships in 3 years per 2025 US ICS; SADC-RTGS/PAPSS reduce reliance on traditional correspondent chains; all banks incorporate locally.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access
The US Embassy reports no lost correspondent banking relationships over the past three years and none currently in jeopardy, with many Zambian banks maintaining active correspondent relationships. All banks operating in Zambia must incorporate locally; there are no local retail branches of foreign banks, and Citibank Zambia Limited, a wholly-owned Citicorp New York subsidiary, provides correspondent banking services domestically. Regional settlement-system participation across SADC-RTGS, PAPSS and COMESA REPSS interlinking reduces Zambian banks' reliance on correspondent banking for regional cross-border settlement, lowering transaction costs and settlement times.
Outlook
The bank-versus-non-bank access asymmetry is this module's analytical spine: correspondent banking remains a bank-only channel in Zambia, while regional rails increasingly substitute for correspondent chains on intra-African corridors, a trend likely to continue through the next cycle.
Correspondent banking access appears stable; no lost relationships in 3 years per 2025 US ICS; SADC-RTGS/PAPSS reduce reliance on traditional correspondent chains; all banks incorporate locally.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- SB
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
W13AssessedCommercial Intelligence (M&A, Investment & Product)
see this theme across all jurisdictions →5 claimsTrailing-12-month activity led by Lupiya's Series A, Airtel Zambia's LuSE market-cap milestone, a Western Union/Zoona/Chipper Cash partnership, MTN MoMo's new international-transfer product, and a rumoured Standard Chartered Zambia-unit divestiture.
No periodic updates yet · baseline brief is current.
Read the full sub-brief
Commercial Intelligence
Digital bank Lupiya secured US$11.25 million in a Series A round, reported around 27 February 2026, to broaden its product offering, strengthen technology infrastructure, and support expansion into Southern and East Africa. Airtel Networks Zambia Plc surpassed $1 billion market capitalisation on the Lusaka Securities Exchange on 8 June 2026, driven partly by its mobile-money and digital-financial-services business; this milestone is logged here as a market event rather than as a scheme commercial_event, since it does not fit the closed event-type taxonomy. Western Union, Zoona and Chipper Cash launched a partnership for international money-transfer services covering Zambia, announced around 30-31 July 2025, with deal value not publicly disclosed. MTN Mobile Money Zambia launched a wallet-to-international-bank-account transfer service covering the EU, UK and Canada, reported in early February 2026. Standard Chartered is reported to be exploring a potential sale of its wealth and retail banking units in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia; deal value and timing are not publicly disclosed as of this baseline.
Outlook
Trailing-twelve-month commercial activity is dominated by mobile-money and telco-linked expansion rather than traditional bank mergers and acquisitions, though the rumoured Standard Chartered divestiture bears watching as the one potential bank-sector deal in the pipeline.
Trailing-12-month activity led by Lupiya's Series A, Airtel Zambia's LuSE market-cap milestone, a Western Union/Zoona/Chipper Cash partnership, MTN MoMo's new international-transfer product, and a rumoured Standard Chartered Zambia-unit divestiture.
Evidence — 5 structured claims
Key facts
- Content Tier
- D
- Sentinel Feed
- False
Event Findings
• 2026-02-27
• 2026-06-08
• 2025-07-31
• 2026-02-02