PAPSS records seven-second cross-border payment settlements, unveils future plans

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) has reached the end of its first strategic plan, with its Chief Executive Officer, Mike Ogbalu, announcing that the platform now connects 30 African countries.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Friday, Ogbalu said PAPSS was averaging seven-second settlement times for cross-border payments in local currencies, compared with the three-to-five-day delays common under legacy payment corridors.

Ogbalu said the second strategic plan would move PAPSS beyond the foundational work of its first phase, with greater focus on adoption and delivering value to end users.

He added that PAPSS was designed to provide the financial infrastructure needed to make the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) work effectively by addressing the challenge of cross-border payments. “Payments are excellent tools of exchange. We want payments to initiate, conclude, and clear within this continent. We want payments to be instant as much as possible. We want payments to be cheaper,” Ogbalu said.

He said PAPSS would reduce transaction costs, limit reliance on hard currencies and allow African countries to exercise greater oversight of cross-border payment flows.

Ogbalu affirmed that PAPSS was backed by Afreximbank, which committed $500 million during the pilot phase to provide settlement finality and liquidity support, with plans to increase the commitment to about $3 billion after the pilot.

Beyond instant payments, he said PAPSS had introduced a marketplace that enables businesses to exchange surplus local currencies and a continental card scheme designed to allow cards issued in one African country to be accepted in others at lower costs.

The PAPSS chief executive disclosed that the payment system currently connects about 200 financial institutions and dozens of payment switches, with the platform targeting expansion from 30 countries to 38 by the end of 2026 as part of its five-year plan for full continental coverage.