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The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is targeting full continental coverage within the next five years as it moves into a new phase focused on increasing transaction volumes, commercial adoption and usage of its cross-border payment infrastructure.
Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu, said the platform expects to expand its reach from 30 African countries currently to about 38 by the end of 2026, putting it on course to achieve roughly 80 per cent continental coverage in the near term.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Ogbalu said the long-term objective was to connect every African country to PAPSS, with South Africa remaining the major economy yet to join the network.
“We expect that by the end of those five years, we will have all countries,” he said.
According to Ogbalu, discussions with South Africa have been encouraging as PAPSS seeks to bring the continent’s largest and most strategically important markets into an integrated cross-border payment network.
PAPSS shifts from infrastructure building to adoption
The expansion comes as PAPSS enters the second phase of its strategic plan, following an initial period focused on establishing the infrastructure, regulatory arrangements and institutional connections required to support instant cross-border payments.
Ogbalu said the first phase was largely about expanding the system’s reach, while the new phase would focus on translating the infrastructure into greater value for businesses and consumers.
“In phase one, we dealt with spread. But today, in our phase two, it is all about deepening, taking the value that we created and actually making it available where it matters most to the end users,” he said.
PAPSS currently connects 30 countries, about 26 central banks and more than 200 financial institutions. The system also interfaces with national and regional payment switches, enabling banks, fintechs and payment service providers to access its cross-border payment infrastructure.
Transaction volumes rise more than 1,000%
The platform has recorded significant growth in transaction activity, with volumes increasing by more than 1,000 per cent year-on-year as adoption accelerates.
Small and medium-sized businesses have emerged as an important driver of this growth as more enterprises seek faster and more efficient ways to make and receive payments across African markets.
Ogbalu also said banks that have integrated PAPSS into their digital banking platforms have recorded three- to fourfold increases in transaction volumes, indicating growing customer adoption of digital channels over cash and branch-based transactions.
The next phase will focus on converting this infrastructure into broader usage across areas including remittances, merchant payments and other cross-border commercial transactions.
APIs could simplify cross-border payments
PAPSS is also using application programming interfaces (APIs) to make it easier for businesses and payment providers to connect to accounts across the network through a single interface.
Greater API connectivity could help reduce some of the complexity businesses face when making payments across multiple African markets by providing a more integrated route into the continent’s payment infrastructure.
However, PAPSS continues to face differences in regulatory frameworks, payment infrastructure and implementation timelines across African countries.
Central banks are progressing at different speeds in connecting their domestic payment systems to the pan-African network.
“Different central banks move at different paces. They have an understanding of the value that we create differently, and therefore some of them take a bit of time,” Ogbalu said.
PAPSS positions itself as an interoperability layer
Ogbalu said PAPSS was also working to address concerns around control of domestic payment infrastructure by emphasising that the platform is designed to connect existing systems rather than replace them.
“We have said to them that if you like your payment system, keep it, but connect it into PAPSS,” he said.
The approach positions interoperability as a central part of PAPSS’s expansion strategy, allowing national and regional payment systems to retain their existing structures while gaining access to a broader African payment network.
PAPSS targets AfCFTA’s cross-border trade ambitions
The expansion of PAPSS is closely linked to the payment infrastructure requirements of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to increase trade and economic integration among African countries.
By enabling faster and more integrated cross-border payments, PAPSS aims to address one of the infrastructure challenges that can limit intra-African commerce.
Ogbalu said the second phase would therefore be less about building new infrastructure and more about converting the network already established into increased commercial activity across the continent.
“We focused more on the building. This phase two now is more about how we actually begin to deliver on the promises of AfCFTA and Agenda 2063,” he said.
With transaction volumes rising and the network expanding to more countries and financial institutions, PAPSS is positioning broader adoption and interoperability as key drivers of Africa’s emerging cross-border digital payments ecosystem.
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