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The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is set to deepen its reach across Africa as transaction volumes on the platform rose by about 1,000 per cent between comparable periods in 2025 and 2026.
Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu III, disclosed this on Wednesday at a media briefing in Lagos, saying the payment platform was entering a new phase focused on driving wider adoption and scaling transactions across the continent.
According to him, PAPSS now operates in more than 30 African countries across the continent’s five regions, linking 24 national and regional central banks, over 200 commercial banks and payment service providers, as well as 16 switches.
He added that strategic partnerships had extended PAPSS’ reach to more than 300 financial institutions.
Ogbalu said about 10 additional countries joined the PAPSS ecosystem in 2026, with further expansion expected before the end of the year.
He said the first phase of the initiative focused on building the infrastructure, connecting financial institutions and establishing confidence in the system.
“As we move into our next phase from 2027, our focus will increasingly shift towards activating that network, deepening adoption and taking transaction growth to scale,” he said.
The PAPSS CEO said transaction values also increased by about 120 per cent during the period under review, while Nigeria recorded an even stronger performance, with transaction volumes rising by approximately 1,100 per cent and transaction values by 125 per cent.
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He said the platform had also delivered significant cost and time savings, with PAPSS transactions recording between 92 and 95 per cent savings in transaction costs, a 99.99 per cent reduction in processing time and up to 80 per cent reduction in foreign exchange requirements.
Ogbalu said the next phase would focus on working more closely with banks, fintechs, switches and other partners to make PAPSS services more accessible through channels routinely used by businesses and individuals.
PAPSS enables cross-border payments through participating financial institutions, including transactions in African currencies, helping to link payment systems that have traditionally operated within national and regional boundaries.
The system currently offers three major solutions — the PAPSS Instant Payment System, PAPSS African Currency Marketplace and PAPSSCARD.
Ogbalu said PAPSS would also focus on increasing customer awareness, developing priority payment corridors and expanding the availability of its services through participating financial institutions.
He disclosed that new solutions were being piloted and would be announced later this year.
The next phase of PAPSS’ growth will be discussed at PAPSS COWRY 2026, its annual payments conference scheduled for November 26 and 27 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
PAPSS was launched in Accra, Ghana, in January 2022 and was adopted by the African Union as a key payment and settlement platform for implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
