PayPal has rolled out PYUSD, its dollar stablecoin, to Uganda as part of a 70-market expansion announced on 26 May 2026, giving Ugandan businesses and freelancers a faster route to international payments that settles in minutes rather than days.
Under the rollout, Ugandan PayPal users can now buy, hold, send, and receive PayPal USD (PYUSD) directly through their PayPal accounts. according to the Observer. PYUSD is fully backed by US dollar deposits, US Treasuries, and cash equivalents, and is issued by Paxos Trust Company, a US-regulated financial institution. For a business accepting an overseas client payment, the practical difference is access to funds within minutes rather than the multi-day settlement windows that conventional banking currently imposes.
Several African countries had previously been excluded from parts of PayPal’s digital payment services. The 70-market push is PayPal’s explicit move to close that gap. Otto Williams, PayPal’s Senior Vice President and Regional Head for the Middle East and Africa, said the goal is to give consumers a stable, flexible way to move funds faster while cutting cross-border settlement costs for businesses. The expansion targets Ugandan exporters, online merchants, software developers, digital creators, and remote workers paid by overseas clients — a segment that absorbs heavy fees and long waits through traditional bank wires. PayPal’s May Zabaneh put the problem plainly: “The current system still charges too much, takes too long, and settles on timelines that were designed for a different era.”
PYUSD’s dollar peg is maintained through regulated backing rather than algorithmic mechanisms, which separates it from speculative crypto assets. For Ugandan recipients, the flow would be: client sends PYUSD, Ugandan account holder receives it within minutes, then converts to Ugandan shillings through PayPal’s exchange at the prevailing FX rate. The exchange spread is where the cost comparison with bank wire will matter most.
The Uganda announcement landed a day after a related PayPal move elsewhere in East Africa: Vodacom Tanzania announced a direct PayPal–M-PESA Super App integration giving Tanzania’s 14.1 million M-PESA customers in-app wallet transfers to and from PayPal. Uganda already has M-PESA Global Payment connectivity through MTN MoMo. The simultaneous launches put PayPal payments infrastructure in motion across both sides of East Africa in the same week.
About Dignited Staff
This account is managed by the in-house team at Dignited, a collective of passionate tech writers, editors, and enthusiasts dedicated to bringing you the latest insights, reviews, and news on consumer technology. For inquiries or feedback, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
Discover more from Dignited
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
