Africa’s efforts to strengthen cross-border payment infrastructure must be accompanied by improvements in the movement of goods and services to unlock the full potential of regional economic integration, according to Zeal Akaraiwe, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FMDQ Group.
Speaking at the S&P Global Africa Summit 2026 in Lagos on Tuesday, Akaraiwe, who became FMDQ’s chief executive in June, said advances in financial infrastructure must keep pace with the practical requirements of trade across African markets.
”Much more important than the flow of capital is the actual flow of goods and services,” he said. “There is no point in having a very sophisticated payment infrastructure cross-border when the actual goods cannot cross the border,” he added. His remarks come as African economies pursue closer economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), supported by initiatives to improve cross-border payments, trade facilitation and regional market access.
Financing challenges and regulatory evolution
Earlier in the day, Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele highlighted the financing challenges facing African economies, noting the mismatch between long-term development needs and the availability of affordable capital. “Development needs require financing over many years, while most of our available funding is short-term, expensive, and exposes us in many cases to currency risks,” he said in his opening remarks.
Akaraiwe also addressed the evolving regulatory environment for virtual assets, noting that their growing presence in financial markets requires frameworks that can accommodate innovation alongside established financial mechanisms.
“I think it is accepted that the virtual asset world is here to stay,” he said, adding that the central question for regulators was how to integrate virtual assets more deeply into existing financial systems.
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On exchange controls, Akaraiwe acknowledged their importance in protecting domestic economies from potential abuses while also recognising opportunities for regulatory adjustments that could support greater capital mobility.
Boosting value through regional processing
The potential benefits, he suggested, would be particularly significant if accompanied by stronger domestic processing capacity for Africa’s raw materials, allowing countries to capture more value from regional production and trade. “If those things are combined with the building of processing capacity for raw materials in Africa, that’s going to be a massive game changer,” he said.
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Akaraiwe was speaking during a panel titled Beyond Banking: Fintech, Digital Assets and the Future of Capital Flows in Africa, moderated by Luigi Motti, Head of Financial Institutions Ratings for EMEA at S&P Global Ratings. The discussion formed part of the two-day summit, which brought together financial sector leaders, policymakers and investors to examine opportunities for strengthening African capital markets and supporting long-term economic growth.
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