Algeria's Bank of Algeria Grants Djezzy Country's First PSP Licence
Algeria's central bank has authorised telecoms operator Djezzy to operate a payment service, making it the first company to receive a PSP licence in the country. The decision formally opens Algeria's largely untapped digital payments market, which spans a population of approximately 45 million people.
Algeria's PSP Licence: the state opened the market to itself first
The first payment licence Algeria has ever issued went to Djezzy — a company the Algerian state fully owns.
That's not a coincidence. The Bank of Algeria's new framework requires capital, national network coverage, and the technical infrastructure to ring-fence customer funds in escrow accounts reconciled daily. Those conditions almost perfectly describe a large telecoms operator, and almost perfectly exclude a scrappy local fintech startup.
So Algeria's digital payments era technically begins today — but with the government holding the only key. Whether private founders ever get a realistic shot at the next licence is the question that decides whether this is genuine market-opening or just the state modernising its own financial plumbing.
3 sources
- Algeria’s Fintech Era Begins as Telecom Giant Djezzy Secures Country’s First PSP License · launchbaseafrica.com · T1
- Algeria approves telecoms giant Djezzy to enter digital payments · thecondia.com · T2
- Bank of Algeria authorizes Djezzy to launch payment unit · innovation-village.com · T2