💸 Africa's own payment system reaches 28 countries: transfers in seconds instead of days and billions in saved fees

• Payments between African countries have previously taken days and gone through US dollars and banks in New York. With PAPSS, the money moves in seconds, in local currencies.
• With the Central African central bank BEAC connected, the system now reaches 28 countries and more than 190 banks and fintechs. The six new countries have a combined population of more than 72 million.
• The detour via the dollar is estimated to cost Africa around 5 billion dollars a year in avoidable exchange fees.

The money does not need to leave Africa

Historically, a payment from Kenya to Nigeria was first converted to US dollars, sent through a bank in New York and then converted again into Nigerian naira. That took days and cost fees at both ends. In total, the detour via the dollar is estimated to cost Africa around 5 billion dollars a year in exchange fees that could be avoided.

PAPSS removes the dollar from the middle. The buyer in Kenya pays in Kenyan shillings and the recipient in Nigeria receives the money in naira. The transfer takes seconds. The central banks then settle between themselves without the money leaving Africa. No foreign currencies or intermediaries outside the continent are needed.

28 countries and more than 190 banks

With BEAC on board, PAPSS now connects 28 African countries. More than 190 commercial banks and fintechs are part of the network, which is supported by 16 so-called switches, technical hubs that link the banks together. Through partners in the extended network, participants can also send money to more than 250 additional financial institutions.

BEAC is one of only two regional central banks in Africa. The CEMAC countries have a combined population of more than 72 million, and the region is a link between West, East and Southern Africa. The membership also gives PAPSS an entry point into Francophone Africa. A pilot with the Central Bank of West African States, BCEAO, is also scheduled to start later this year.

Faster, cheaper and more efficient payments

BEAC's governor Yvon Sana Bangui, who also chairs the Association of African Central Banks, AACB, says the membership creates the conditions for faster, cheaper and more efficient payments between the CEMAC countries and the rest of Africa. He urges commercial banks and financial institutions in the member states to prepare to participate in the platform. According to him, the success of Africa's trade integration depends not only on policy and infrastructure, but also on the active involvement of the financial sector.

PAPSS CEO Mike Ogbalu III says the membership opens new trade and payment corridors between Central Africa and the rest of the continent.

For banks and fintechs, the system means they can offer services beyond their own country's borders. For businesses, it means faster transactions, lower costs and better access to regional markets. For individuals, it becomes cheaper and easier to send and receive money within Africa. Because payments are processed and settled within Africa, the continent's financial sovereignty is also strengthened.

Connected during the rest of 2026

PAPSS was developed by the African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, together with the African Union and the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. During the rest of 2026, PAPSS and BEAC will work to make the membership operational, connect financial institutions in the CEMAC region and roll out the services to businesses and individuals.

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