Wave Côte d'Ivoire vs Wave Senegal: API differences and multi-country strategy 2026

Wave Money exploded in Senegal (2018) then expanded to Ivory Coast (2021), Mali, Burkina Faso, Uganda. For a pan-African e-commerce, integrating Wave in several countries is tempting but tricky: each country has its endpoint, limits, currencies, fees.

TL;DR

- Wave SN: XOF, 1% fees, ~52% market leader.

- Wave CI: XOF, 1% too, ~30% share, strong growth.

- Separate API endpoints per country + separate API keys.

- Recommended architecture: 1 Wave connector with per-country config.

Wave SN vs Wave CI comparison

No sandbox in either country forces production testing with small amounts.

Multi-country connector architecture

`ts

type WaveCountry = 'sn' | 'ci' | 'ml' | 'bf' | 'ug';

interface WaveConfig {

country: WaveCountry;

apiKey: string;

webhookSecret: string;

apiBase: string;

currency: string;

maxAmountPerDay: number;

}

const WAVE_CONFIGS: Record> = {

sn: { country: 'sn', apiBase: 'https://api.wave.com', currency: 'XOF', maxAmountPerDay: 5_000_000 },

ci: { country: 'ci', apiBase: 'https://api.wave.com/ci', currency: 'XOF', maxAmountPerDay: 3_000_000 },

ml: { country: 'ml', apiBase: 'https://api.wave.com/ml', currency: 'XOF', maxAmountPerDay: 2_000_000 },

bf: { country: 'bf', apiBase: 'https://api.wave.com/bf', currency: 'XOF', maxAmountPerDay: 2_000_000 },

ug: { country: 'ug', apiBase: 'https://api.wave.com/ug', currency: 'UGX', maxAmountPerDay: 7_500_000 },

};

function getWaveConfig(country: WaveCountry): WaveConfig {

const base = WAVE_CONFIGS[country];

const apiKey = process.env[WAVE_${country.toUpperCase()}_API_KEY];

const webhookSecret = process.env[WAVE_${country.toUpperCase()}_WEBHOOK_SECRET];

if (!apiKey || !webhookSecret) throw new Error(Missing Wave config for: ${country});

return { ...base, apiKey, webhookSecret };

}

export async function initWavePayment(country: WaveCountry, orderId: string, amountXof: number) {

const config = getWaveConfig(country);

if (amountXof > config.maxAmountPerDay) {

throw new Error(Amount exceeds Wave ${country.toUpperCase()} daily cap);

}

const res = await fetch(${config.apiBase}/v1/checkout/sessions, {

method: 'POST',

headers: { 'Authorization': Bearer ${config.apiKey}, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },

body: JSON.stringify({

amount: String(amountXof),

currency: config.currency,

success_url: https://kolonell.com/checkout/success?order=${orderId},

error_url: https://kolonell.com/checkout/error?order=${orderId},

client_reference: orderId,

}),

});

return res.json();

}

`

Unified webhook handler

`ts

// app/api/webhooks/wave/[country]/route.ts

export async function POST(req: NextRequest, { params }: { params: { country: string }}) {

const country = params.country as WaveCountry;

const config = getWaveConfig(country);

const rawBody = await req.text();

const signature = req.headers.get('wave-signature') ?? '';

const expected = crypto

.createHmac('sha256', config.webhookSecret)

.update(rawBody)

.digest('hex');

if (!crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(signature), Buffer.from(expected))) {

return NextResponse.json({ error: 'invalid_signature' }, { status: 401 });

}

const event = JSON.parse(rawBody);

// ... idempotency + persist

}

`

Exposed URLs: https://kolonell.com/api/webhooks/wave/sn and https://kolonell.com/api/webhooks/wave/ci.

Auto country detection

In checkout, detect country from:

• Entered phone (E.164 prefix)
• IP geolocation
• User manual selection

`ts

function detectWaveCountry(msisdn: string): WaveCountry | null {

if (msisdn.startsWith('+221')) return 'sn';

if (msisdn.startsWith('+225')) return 'ci';

if (msisdn.startsWith('+223')) return 'ml';

if (msisdn.startsWith('+226')) return 'bf';

if (msisdn.startsWith('+256')) return 'ug';

return null;

}

`

Multi-account Wave strategy

For pan-African e-commerce, two options:

Option A — One Wave account per country

• Wave SN account with SN legal entity
• Wave CI account with CI legal entity
• Etc.
• Local IBAN settlement per country

Option B — One Wave account in main country

• SN account only, declare international revenue
• Tolerance for minority CI/ML payments
• Central XOF settlement

Option A is cleaner fiscally but heavier. Option B works as long as non-main country revenue stays <30%.

Common pitfalls

• Mixing API keys — using SN key on CI endpoint = 401. Always prefix with country.
• Daily cap — past it, transactions rejected without clear customer message. Always validate amount before init.
• Multi-country webhook URL — prefer parameterized route /wave/[country] over separate routes.
• Tax reporting — each country revenue = local declaration obligation. Build into your accounting.

Real case — Dakar → Abidjan e-commerce shop

SN fashion shop, CI market opening 2025:

• 6 months post-launch CI: 22% of total revenue
• Wave CI = 68% of CI payments (vs 52% in SN)
• Difference: Wave CI captures younger users; in SN, OM is more entrenched

FAQ

Q: Does Wave CI accept payments from SN numbers?

A: No, payer must have a Wave CI account (CI number). For an SN customer paying in CI, requires SN payment.

Q: Wave CI vs SN onboarding delay?

A: SN: 5-10 business days. CI: 7-15 (stricter KYC, mandatory CI RCCM).

Q: Wave US or Europe?

A: No Wave presence outside Africa as of May 2026. Stripe remains the option for those markets.

Conclusion

Multi-country Wave is feasible and rewarding for an e-commerce scaling beyond Senegal. Technical complexity is manageable with a good connector abstraction. Real challenge is legal/fiscal: multiplying local entities costs admin time. Test first with Option B (single account), scale complexity as secondary country revenue exceeds 30%.