The Pan-African Payment & Settlement System, PAPSS, in conjunction with the African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, the African Union Commission, AUC, and the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, Secretariat, has convened the premier Consultative Forum of CEOs of African Banks.
The gathering brings together top executives from African commercial banks, bankers’ associations, payment switches, the association of African stock exchanges, and other key financial service providers, in advancing financial integration and collaboration across the continent.
The Forum provided an avenue for participants to deliberate on the successes and challenges of the PAPSS payment system and explore potential paths forward on how it can be optimized to facilitate seamless and efficient cross-border payments to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Participants reaffirmed their 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.
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The Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu, who noted that PAPSS is fully operational and making rapid progress, said “ 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. 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.
“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. 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.”
PAPSS is a centralized Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimizing 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’.
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