\u201cI have no doubt that transactions are going to flourish in the coming year, because there\u2019s been this move to extend membership, even big fintechs that are doing massive volumes within Nigeria and also wish to do more cross-border,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
PAPSS was established to facilitate instant cross-border payments across African countries in local currencies, reducing the cost, delays and dependence on foreign currencies associated with traditional correspondent banking arrangements.\n<\/p>\n
Sebabi said the platform had recorded approximately 1,000 percent growth in transaction volumes on average this year, supported by the increasing number of participating banks and the integration of fintech companies.<\/p>\n
He said PAPSS had also reduced cross-border payment costs by between 85 and 90 percent, while cutting transaction processing times from one or two days to less than 120 seconds.\n<\/p>\n
According to him, the platform addresses four major challenges associated with cross-border payments: accessibility, cost, speed and transparency.\n<\/p>\n
PAPSS currently has a presence in 32 African countries, with more than 280 commercial banks connected to the system.\n<\/p>\n
However, Sebabi said its priority was to move participating countries and financial institutions beyond connectivity to active usage, as the platform seeks to increase transaction volumes and deepen local-currency settlements.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want those 32 countries to transact through PAPSS fully. The 280-plus commercial banks should also transact through PAPSS,\u201d he said, outlining the organisation\u2019s priorities for 2027.<\/p>\n
He said PAPSS was also working to expand its geographical reach, with discussions ongoing to increase participation across North, Central and Southern Africa.\n<\/p>\n
The organisation is equally working on establishing a payment corridor with China to facilitate transactions between African businesses and their Chinese counterparts.\n<\/p>\n
Sebabi said many African small and medium-sized enterprises still import goods from China, Belgium, the United States and other international markets, limiting their reliance on intra-African payment infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n
He identified low trade volumes between African countries as a major obstacle to wider PAPSS adoption, arguing that increased intra-African commerce would encourage greater use of the platform and local currencies.\n<\/p>\n
PAPSS operates an instant payment system through which payments are made between buyers and recipients in their respective local currencies, while the net settlement obligation is calculated in US dollars.<\/p>\n
It also operates a currency marketplace that matches currency transactions between participating institutions, allowing settlements to take place directly in local currencies without involving hard currencies.\n<\/p>\n
Sebabi said these arrangements were designed to reduce the need for foreign currencies in cross-border transactions.\n<\/p>\n
Read also:\u00a0Investors pile N1.08trn into one-year bills at 15.89%<\/a><\/p>\n He also disclosed that PAPSS was engaging existing regional payment systems to establish interoperability, stressing that its objective was to complement rather than displace existing regional platforms.\n<\/p>\n The organisation is expected to advance discussions on payment integration, adoption and global connectivity at PAPSS COWRY 2026, scheduled for November 26 and 27 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.\n<\/p>\n The conference, themed \u201cScaling Africa\u2019s Sovereign Payments: From Continental Connectivity to Global Integration\u201d, will bring together institutions and leaders shaping the future of payments, settlement and trade across Africa.<\/p>\n Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria\u2019s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks.
Source: <\/p>\n The Central Bank of Nigeria\u2019s (CBN) regulatory support and simplified documentation requirements for cross-border transactions have helped boost the adoption of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), John Sebabi,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\nShe also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank\/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings.
\nHer dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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