The Pan-African Payments Settlement System (PAPSS) has unveiled a blockchain marketplace that will allow African countries to trade directly with one another using their local currencies, eliminating the need to rely on the U.S. dollar or the euro.
The system was built on the Bantu blockchain and developed by African infrastructure provider Interstellar to speed up, reduce, and simplify cross-border transactions across Africa.
PAPSS CEO Mike Ogbalu announced the launch on June 26 during the Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Nigeria, emphasising that the platform allows African businesses to swap currencies without first converting to a hard currency.
What does the PAPSS marketplace do?
Victor Akoma-Philips, COO of Interstellar and Bantu Blockchain, explained that while PAPSS’s earlier Instant Payment Settlement (IPS) system facilitated local currency transactions, settlements still required U.S. dollars. The new marketplace removes this dependency entirely.
“The goal [of PAPSS] was to make Africans trade amongst each other using just local currencies, but there was a problem. The problem was that even though that was the idea in front, settlement in the back still needed dollars,” Akoma-Philips said.
Interstellar introduced simulated fiat-pegged stablecoins, such as Nigeria’s cNGN, to facilitate transactions and achieve true peer-to-peer settlements. The system has already been piloted in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Cameroon, and membership is expanding to 19 countries this year.
Major corporations, including Kenya Airways and Continental RE, are already using the platform to move funds across borders.
Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region for remittances, with fees averaging 8.45 percent per transaction, sometimes reaching 20 percent.
PAPSS, launched in 2022 by Afreximbank and endorsed by the African Union (AU), seeks to address these inefficiencies and promote the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Ernest Mbenkum, Interstellar CEO, noted the role of blockchain in solving Africa’s payment challenges: “We looked at how we could leverage blockchain technology to address Africa’s unique challenges. We focused on using this infrastructure to develop the Bantu Blockchain.”
The African Currency Marketplace could also accelerate stablecoin adoption. With cNGN already live on Bantu and over ₦52 million minted, other African nations may follow Nigeria’s lead in launching local stablecoins.
Challenges and next steps
Despite growing institutional support—including mandates from Nigeria’s central bank—PAPSS faces hurdles in grassroots adoption.
While 56 commercial banks across eight countries are onboarded, widespread use by SMEs and consumers remains limited.
PAPSS’s blockchain integration marks a historic step toward financial integration in Africa. As Ogbalu noted, reducing payment barriers is critical for unlocking the continent’s trade potential.
With stablecoins and blockchain at its core, the African Currency Marketplace could redefine cross-border commerce if it reaches the people who need it most.
