Why does Paystack not operate in Tanzania?

Paystack's market expansion has focused on West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire) and East Africa hubs (Kenya, Rwanda). Tanzania requires separate regulatory licencing from Tanzania's Financial Intelligence Unit and Bank of Tanzania, plus relationships with all three Tanzanian mobile money operators. Paystack has not obtained Tanzanian licences as of July 2026. Pesapal covers Tanzania under their multi-country East Africa licence, which is why they can serve the market.

What is the most popular mobile money network in Tanzania?

Vodacom M-Pesa Tanzania is the largest mobile money network in Tanzania by subscribers, but Tigo Pesa and Airtel Money Tanzania both have significant user bases. Unlike Kenya where M-Pesa is overwhelmingly dominant (70%+ mobile money market share), Tanzania's market is more fragmented across three networks. This is why aggregators like Selcom are valuable in Tanzania — you need all three to cover most of the population.

Can I use the same webhook handler for Selcom and Paystack?

No — Selcom and Paystack have different webhook payload structures, different HMAC signature algorithms, and different event names. Maintain separate webhook endpoints (e.g., /webhook/paystack and /webhook/selcom). Each handler validates the signature using the respective gateway's secret key and algorithm, then translates the payload to your internal event format. A gateway abstraction layer with separate adapters for each gateway is the right approach.

By Bonaventure Ogeto|Updated July 22, 2026

Paystack vs Selcom: Engineering Comparison

Paystack is not available in Tanzania. For Tanzanian payment acceptance, your options are Selcom (the dominant gateway for Tanzanian mobile money and card), Pesapal (pan-East Africa including Tanzania), or direct mobile money operator APIs (Vodacom Tanzania Mpesa API, Tigo Pesa API, Airtel Money TZ API). Selcom is the most complete Tanzanian-first gateway — it aggregates all three major mobile money networks plus card under one API. If you are building a product that starts in Nigeria/Kenya (Paystack) and expands to Tanzania, you will need to add Selcom or Pesapal for Tanzania. There is no way to extend Paystack to Tanzania.

Paystack vs Selcom: Tanzania Context

Feature	Paystack	Selcom
Tanzania availability	Not available	Primary market
Vodacom M-Pesa TZ	No	Yes
Tigo Pesa	No	Yes
Airtel Money TZ	No	Yes
Card (Visa/Mastercard)	Not in Tanzania	Yes — TZS card acceptance
Currency	NGN, KES, GHS, ZAR, EGP (not TZS)	TZS (Tanzanian Shilling)
Nigeria / Ghana	Yes	No
Kenya	Yes — M-Pesa STK push	No (Tanzania only)
API documentation	Excellent	Functional — covers main integration flows
Developer experience	Best available in its markets	Adequate for Tanzania
Mobile money aggregation	Per-country (M-Pesa KE, MTN GH)	All 3 Tanzanian MNOs under one API
Settlement currency	NGN, KES, GHS, ZAR	TZS

Selcom Integration Pattern

Selcom provides a REST API with HMAC-based authentication. The pattern is similar in concept to Paystack but with Tanzanian-specific flows:

// Selcom — initiate mobile money push payment
var payload = {
  vendor: process.env.SELCOM_VENDOR_ID,
  order_id: orderId,
  buyer_email: email,
  buyer_name: name,
  buyer_phone: phone, // Tanzanian phone: 255XXXXXXXXX
  amount: amountInTZS,
  currency: 'TZS',
  no_of_items: 1,
  webhook: 'https://yourapp.com/webhook/selcom',
  cancel_url: 'https://yourapp.com/cancel',
  redirect_url: 'https://yourapp.com/success',
  header_colour: '#153564',
};

// Selcom uses HMAC-SHA256 signature on the payload
var signature = createSelcomSignature(payload, process.env.SELCOM_API_SECRET);

var response = await fetch('https://apigw.selcommobile.com/v1/checkout/create-order', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    Authorization: 'SELCOM ' + process.env.SELCOM_API_KEY + ':' + signature,
    'Digest-Method': 'HS256',
    'Digest': timestamp,
    'Timestamp': timestamp,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(payload),
});
// Response includes a payment_gateway_url to redirect the customer to

The Selcom checkout presents Vodacom M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money, and card options to the customer. The customer completes payment on their phone; Selcom fires a webhook to your server and calls your redirect URL.

Learn More

See single vs multi-gateway architecture for adding Selcom alongside Paystack for Tanzania coverage.

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Key Takeaways

✓Paystack does not operate in Tanzania — for Tanzania you need Selcom, Pesapal, or direct MNO APIs.
✓Selcom aggregates Vodacom M-Pesa TZ, Tigo Pesa, and Airtel Money Tanzania under one integration.
✓Selcom also accepts card payments (Visa, Mastercard) for Tanzanian merchants.
✓Tanzania's dominant payment channel is mobile money — card penetration is much lower than Nigeria.
✓For pan-African products: Paystack for West Africa + Kenya; Selcom (or Pesapal) for Tanzania.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Paystack not operate in Tanzania?: Paystack's market expansion has focused on West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire) and East Africa hubs (Kenya, Rwanda). Tanzania requires separate regulatory licencing from Tanzania's Financial Intelligence Unit and Bank of Tanzania, plus relationships with all three Tanzanian mobile money operators. Paystack has not obtained Tanzanian licences as of July 2026. Pesapal covers Tanzania under their multi-country East Africa licence, which is why they can serve the market.
What is the most popular mobile money network in Tanzania?: Vodacom M-Pesa Tanzania is the largest mobile money network in Tanzania by subscribers, but Tigo Pesa and Airtel Money Tanzania both have significant user bases. Unlike Kenya where M-Pesa is overwhelmingly dominant (70%+ mobile money market share), Tanzania's market is more fragmented across three networks. This is why aggregators like Selcom are valuable in Tanzania — you need all three to cover most of the population.
Can I use the same webhook handler for Selcom and Paystack?: No — Selcom and Paystack have different webhook payload structures, different HMAC signature algorithms, and different event names. Maintain separate webhook endpoints (e.g., /webhook/paystack and /webhook/selcom). Each handler validates the signature using the respective gateway's secret key and algorithm, then translates the payload to your internal event format. A gateway abstraction layer with separate adapters for each gateway is the right approach.

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