CAIRO, May 13, 2024 – Promoters of the Pan-African Payment & Settlement System [ PAPSS ], namely African Export-Import Bank [Afreximbank], African Union Commission [AUC] and African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA] Secretariat, successfully organised the first Consultative Forum, bringing together CEOs of African commercial banks, bankers’ associations, payment switches, the association of African stock exchanges and other financial service providers.
Participants reaffirmed their strong support to the decisions of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of States and Governments of 2019 and 2020.
The 2019 decision adopted PAPSS as the African Financial Market Infrastructure for cross-border payments and settlements while the 2020 decision mandated Afreximbank, AUC and AfCFTA Secretariat to urgently introduce and scale up the implementation of PAPSS.
The Forum therefore provided an avenue for participants to deliberate on the successes and challenges of the PAPSS payment system and explore potential path forward on how it can be optimised to facilitate seamless and efficient cross-border payments to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Following productive discussions, participants at the Forum agreed to take collective ownership of the success and the future of PAPSS given its significant and hugely positive impact on the facilitation of cross-border payments and the development of intra-African trade. In addition, participants advocated to leverage PAPSS as a pathway to increasing the share of African currencies in intra-African trade and other cross-border payments, as well as increasing the volume of intra-regional payments for mutual benefits to drive rapid adoption of PAPSS by businesses. Participants agreed to embed PAPSS into their digital channels to enable ease of access and seamless integration for existing customers.
Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, stated: “PAPSS is fully operational and making rapid progress. We have signed on thirteen African Central Banks, and connected over 115 commercial banks, and ten payment switches across Africa. Another 115 commercial banks are in the pipeline for connection.”
He added: “Our foundation is solid, and the time has come for action and acceleration. It is time to use the system to drive trade in Africa, for Africans, by Africans. We urge all banks to join us in our collective effort to promote intra-African trade and development through PAPSS.”
Further commenting, Ogbalu said: “We are pleased to see overwhelming support of this forum by the leadership of the African financial institutions. PAPSS is a revolutionary initiative that has the potential to significantly transform the financial and payments landscape of our continent.”
He added: “As managers of PAPSS, we are committed to ensuring it succeeds. We urge all African financial institutions to join us in transforming the way payments are done in Africa.”
About PAPSS
PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions. PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘Participants’.
Afreximbank and the African Union [AU] first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on December 5, 2020, the assembly of the African Union directed Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalise, among others, work on the PAPSS.
The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent. PAPSS was officially launched in Accra, Ghana, on January 13, 2022, thus making it available for use by the public.
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