The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, PAPSS, plans to connect every African country to its cross-border payment network within the next five years as the platform moves into a new phase focused on adoption and transaction growth.
PAPSS Chief Executive Officer, Mike Ogbalu, said the platform currently operates across 30 African countries and expects coverage to increase to about 38 countries by the end of 2026.
The longer-term objective is to connect all countries on the continent, creating a wider network through which businesses and individuals can make cross-border payments more efficiently.
“We expect that by the end of those five years, we will have all countries,” Ogbalu said at a press conference in Lagos.
South Africa Remains Major Target
South Africa has been identified as the largest African economy yet to join the network.
Ogbalu said discussions with the country had been positive as PAPSS works to bring Africa’s major markets into a unified payment infrastructure.
Connecting South Africa would represent an important milestone because of the size and sophistication of its financial system and its role in continental trade.
PAPSS was developed to facilitate instant cross-border payments in local currencies, reducing dependence on third-party settlement currencies and correspondent banking arrangements.
The system is expected to support the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area by making it easier for businesses to transact across borders.
Focus Shifts to Transaction Growth
PAPSS is now entering the second phase of its strategic development.
The first phase focused largely on building the infrastructure, regulatory arrangements and institutional partnerships required to operate a continent-wide payment system.
Attention is now shifting towards expanding transaction volumes and encouraging wider adoption by banks, businesses and consumers.
The planned expansion could reduce some of the cost and complexity associated with intra-African payments, which often require transactions to be routed through financial institutions outside the continent.
A broader PAPSS network could also make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to trade across borders without relying heavily on foreign currencies.
For the system to achieve its full potential, however, continued cooperation among central banks, commercial banks, payment companies and regulators across Africa will be critical.
PAPSS’s target of full continental coverage would represent a major step towards deeper financial integration if the platform succeeds in translating infrastructure growth into sustained transaction activity.
