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Uruguay-based payments company dLocal and Western Union have expanded their partnership in Africa to include remittance payouts. The two already work together on collections.
The first live payout corridor will be in Cameroon. Recipients will be able to receive money directly into supported local wallets. dLocal provides the technology and connectivity, while regulated local partners, such as mobile network operators and financial institutions, carry out the payouts.
The companies describe Cameroon as a fragmented, wallet-based market where recipients have had few reliable ways to receive money. The new corridor is meant to close that gap.
For Western Union, the expansion means it can use one partner for both collections and payouts. That supports its plans to grow digital remittance corridors in emerging markets.
Both the companies are also looking at extending payouts to other African markets, including Nigeria, with bank transfers and wallets. The World Bank estimates that remittances into Sub-Saharan Africa reached about $57 billion in 2024.
“Collections and payouts have always been treated as two separate problems. Half a remittance solved is still half a problem. With Western Union, we’re working together to close that gap, building a more consistent path from send to receipt,” said Agustin Botta, Head of EMEA at dLocal.
dLocal is a payments company that connects global businesses with consumers in emerging markets across Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Through the “One dLocal” platform (one API, one platform, one contract), companies can accept payments, send payouts, and settle funds without managing separate integrations or local entities.
dLocal says its service is suitable for businesses that serve customers or merchants across multiple emerging markets and prefer one provider for technology and compliance rather than multiple local solutions. It is also ideal for companies requiring local payment collections and disbursements at scale and those operating in sectors such as ecommerce, SaaS, marketplaces, travel, FinTech, gaming, or remittances.
Key use cases for dLocal include local payment collections from customers using preferred methods, local disbursements to workers or partners, and multi-sided payment flows for platforms and marketplaces, which may involve various payment methods and currencies across different countries.
The company focuses on organisations that serve users in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, or Asia, or have plans to enter these markets, preferring a single partner for consolidating local payment methods and handling regulatory requirements.
dLocal expertise spans several strategic sectors where local payments and regulations are significant, including digital subscriptions, gaming, e-learning, SaaS, travel, retail, financial services, on-demand delivery, and emerging segments like crypto and AI-driven financial products.
“At Western Union, our priority is always to ensure that our customers get their money reliably, seamlessly, wherever they may be. Extending our work with dLocal into payouts means we can offer that same reliability on the disbursement side too, starting in markets like Cameroon,” said Mohamed Touhami El Ouazzani, Regional Vice President, Head of Africa at Western Union.
Western Union is a cross-border money movement and payments company. It operates in more than 200 countries and territories and more than 130 currencies. ₹Its network reaches billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and hundreds of thousands of retail locations.
“Our goal is to offer accessible financial services that help people and communities thrive,” says the company.
