What is PAPSS?

PAPSS is expected to save the continent more than $5 billion in payment transaction costs each year

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is an international payment system and cross-border financial market infrastructure enabling remittance payment and trade between African countries.

PAPSS enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions.

Whether shopping, transferring money, paying salaries, dealing in stocks and shares or making high-value business transactions, PAPSS’ real-time infrastructure provides a reliable, cost-effective answer for instant payments.

PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks, payment service providers and fintechs across the region can connect as ‘Participants’.

At a time when cross-border trading is high on the agenda with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement now a reality, PAPSS is primed to facilitate the expected increased volumes in cross-border payments.

PAPSS was rolled out in September 2021 as a pilot project by Afreximbank and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat and was officially launched in January 2022.

PAPSS is now available in the West African Monetary Zone: Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia.

In June 2023, the intra-Africa payment solution signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with five African multinational commercial banking groups for seamless cross-border trade payments.

The banks include Access Bank Group, Ecobank Group, KCB Group, Standard Bank Group, and UBA Group. These significant partnerships aim to revolutionise the settlement of cross-border transactions across Africa, leveraging on the vast network of subsidiaries and representative offices across major economic centres across Africa.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.