The verdict in three sentences
Migrating your payment gateway is justified when the fee saving (often 0.3 to 1 % per transaction) beats the project cost over 12 months. In Nairobi, moving from M-Pesa/Paystack to an aggregator is a 2 to 6 week dev effort depending on the existing integration, plus the risk of downtime and checkout churn. The golden rule: migrate in parallel, never big-bang, so you lose no sale during the switch.
The hidden costs of a migration
The new PSP's headline rate is only part of the equation. The real cost includes development, data migration and the commercial risk during transition.
| Item | Detail | Cost order 2026 (Nairobi) |
|---|---|---|
| API re-integration | dev + tests | 2 to 6 weeks of dev |
| Re-tokenization | saved cards/accounts | variable, sometimes impossible |
| Downtime | sales lost during switch | minimize (target zero) |
| QA | sandbox + scenarios | included in dev |
| Team training | back-office, support | a few days |
| Checkout churn | new-flow friction | risk, must be measured |
On the francophone side, an Abidjan migration costs roughly 200,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA depending on complexity.
Zero-downtime strategy and ROI math
Never turn off the old gateway before validating the new one in production on a sample of traffic. ROI is the annual fee saving compared to the project cost.
| Step | Goal | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Integrate in parallel | new PSP alongside old | no outage |
| 2. Sandbox QA | success/failure/timeout/refund | go-live blocker |
| 3. Gradual switch | 10 % then 50 % of traffic | measure churn |
| 4. Re-tokenize | migrate saved payments | or re-collect |
| 5. Full switch | old PSP as fallback | keep 30 days |
| 6. Decommission | cut the old one | after stability |
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Mini case study
James runs an e-commerce store in Nairobi with 8,000,000 KES volume/month, i.e. 96,000,000 KES/year. The new PSP saves 0.5 % in fees, i.e. 480,000 KES/year. The migration costs the equivalent of 800,000 KES. ROI: the saving repays the project in about 20 months, then it is 480,000 KES/year net saving. He migrates in parallel, switches 10 % then 100 % of traffic over three weeks, with zero sales interruption.
FAQ
How long does a gateway migration take in Nairobi in 2026? Typically 2 to 6 weeks of dev depending on the existing integration and the number of scenarios to QA. Saved cards often complicate the project.
What fee saving can I expect? Generally 0.3 to 1 % per transaction. On 96,000,000 KES/year of volume, 0.5 % is a 480,000 KES/year saving.
How do I avoid downtime? By integrating the new PSP in parallel with the old, switching gradually (10 %, 50 %, 100 %) and keeping the old one as fallback for 30 days.
What about already-saved cards? Two options: re-tokenize via a PSP-to-PSP transfer when possible, or re-collect payment methods on the next purchase.
How much does it cost in absolute terms? On the francophone side, an Abidjan migration runs 200,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA; in Nairobi, budget the equivalent dev effort of 2 to 6 weeks.
Let's talk about your project. We run your gateway migration in parallel, with full QA and a zero-downtime strategy. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.