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Nigeria’s Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Kenyan payment solutions provider Ceva Limited are actively lobbying Kenyan President William Ruto to secure the contract for developing Kenya’s Fast Payment System (FPS) and national digital ID program, intensifying competition for one of the country’s most lucrative financial infrastructure projects.
Strategic Partnership to Drive Kenya’s Payment Revolution
According to a letter, Ceva Limited has formally requested a meeting with President Ruto to present NIBSS as its preferred strategic partner for the project.
“We are writing to formally request a meeting with you at your earliest convenience, on either 20th or 21st March 2025,” the letter stated. “The purpose of the meeting is to introduce our partner, the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS).”
The proposed meeting is expected to include top executives from NIBSS and Ceva, including:
- Premier Oiwoh, CEO, NIBSS
- Yvonne Ige, Head of Partnerships, NIBSS
- Yatin Mehta, Managing Director, Ceva
- David Kiprono, Director, Webmaster (developer of Kenya’s e-Citizen platform)
NIBSS and Ceva’s Competitive Edge
NIBSS, which is owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and licensed banks, serves as Nigeria’s national switch and payment infrastructure, facilitating seamless financial transactions across banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
Ceva, founded in 2010, operates in India, Nigeria, Kenya, and Brazil, processing an estimated $40 billion in transactions annually. In its letter, Ceva emphasized NIBSS’s ability to drive seamless interoperability between financial institutions, including banks, SACCOS, mobile money platforms like M-Pesa, and fintechs.
“Our robust infrastructure is developed in Africa, for Africa,” Ceva wrote. “AfriGo is NIBSS’ answer to Africa having its card processing, driving our economic independence and efficiency. India has done it with RuPay, China with UnionPay, UAE with Jaywan, and Brazil with PIX.”
Potential Challenges and Industry Pushback
If successful, the NIBSS-Ceva partnership could face resistance from local mobile money operators and commercial banks, particularly Safaricom and the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA). These entities have been advocating for an upgrade to Pesalink, Kenya’s existing interbank transfer system, instead of building a new FPS from scratch.
- Estimated cost of a new FPS: $200 million
- Projected timeline: Up to four years
- Pesalink’s current transaction volume: $8.5 billion annually
While the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has yet to make a final decision on the FPS upgrade, the bidding process has attracted intense lobbying from both local and international firms, making this a high-stakes competition in Kenya’s evolving digital payments landscape.
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