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Visa, the global payments technology giant, has entered into a strategic partnership with Yellow Card Financial, Africa’s first licensed stablecoin payments platform, to drive the adoption of dollar-pegged digital currencies across the continent. The collaboration underscores the increasing convergence of traditional financial networks and blockchain-based solutions in emerging markets.
The partnership will enable cross-border transactions powered by stablecoins in at least one African market in 2025, with broader rollouts anticipated in 2026. Yellow Card currently operates in 20 African countries and has processed over $6 billion in transactions since launching in Nigeria in 2019.
Yellow Card CEO and co-founder Chris Maurice said the initiative will focus on enhancing treasury operations, optimizing liquidity management, and enabling cost-efficient remittances and cross-border transfers.
“All the major payment companies are exploring ways to enter this space,” Maurice noted, highlighting the growing institutional interest in stablecoins as a solution for emerging market inefficiencies.
Stablecoins Gaining Ground in Sub-Saharan Africa
While overall cryptocurrency adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa rose modestly in 2024, stablecoin usage has seen exponential growth, particularly in countries facing acute foreign exchange shortages and limited U.S. dollar access.
A recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis revealed that stablecoins now account for approximately 43% of total crypto transaction volume in the region. Nigeria and Ethiopia—two of Africa’s largest economies—are among the fastest-growing stablecoin markets, largely driven by the need for currency stability and efficient cross-border payment rails.
Visa’s Strategy and Market Implications
For Visa, the partnership reflects a broader strategy to leverage blockchain infrastructure to support next-generation payment ecosystems. The collaboration with Yellow Card mirrors a similar trend seen with other major players in the financial services industry seeking to pilot or deploy blockchain-based payment models in underserved regions.
This initiative follows April’s announcement by Circle, the issuer of USDC, which teamed up with African payments firm Onafriq to test USDC settlements across 40 African countries—further reinforcing the continent’s potential as a frontier market for stablecoin utility.
A Digital Dollar Future
Yellow Card’s platform currently supports key stablecoins including USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin), both of which maintain one-to-one pegs to the U.S. dollar and offer the benefit of instant settlement and global liquidity. These features are particularly attractive in Africa’s fragmented financial landscape, where currency volatility and high remittance fees remain persistent challenges.
As the partnership unfolds, it is expected to not only boost stablecoin adoption across African markets but also serve as a case study for integrating decentralized finance into conventional payment infrastructures.
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