The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is entering the second phase of its strategic development, targeting full continental coverage across all 54 African countries within five years while reporting transaction volume growth of more than 1,000 per cent year-on-year as adoption among smaller businesses accelerates.
PAPSS Chief Executive Officer Mike Ogbalu disclosed the growth figures and expansion targets at a press conference in Lagos on 4 September 2026, marking the launch of the system’s second strategic plan following the foundational work of its first phase.
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Where PAPSS stands today
PAPSS currently connects 30 African countries, facilitating instant cross-border payments in local currencies without routing transactions through correspondent banks outside the continent — the system that has historically added cost, delay, and opacity to intra-African commerce. The network connects more than 160 commercial banks and 14 national switches, with Nigeria among the most active participants following the CBN’s April 2025 directive that streamlined documentation requirements for PAPSS transactions.
Ogbalu said the second strategic plan will increase connected countries from 30 to approximately 38 by end of 2026, targeting 80 per cent continental coverage. Full coverage of all African economies, including all major markets, is the five-year objective.
The volume growth figure — more than 1,000 per cent year-on-year — reflects both the low baseline from which the system started and the genuine acceleration in adoption as more banks and businesses integrate with the infrastructure. Banks that have integrated PAPSS into their digital banking platforms are reporting three- to fourfold increases in cross-border transaction numbers, with Ogbalu noting a significant shift from cash and branch-based transactions toward digital channels among participants.
A 1,000 per cent increase in transaction volumes is the kind of number that looks like hype until you understand the baseline. PAPSS started from near zero in an environment where intra-African payments had historically been routed through New York and London. Any meaningful adoption is a large percentage increase. The question that matters is whether the absolute volume is commercially significant — and the answer is increasingly yes.
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What it means for Nigerian businesses
For Nigerian SMEs engaged in cross-border trade — sourcing inputs from Ghana, exporting goods to Cameroon, paying suppliers in Kenya, receiving payments from South African buyers — PAPSS offers a practical alternative to the dollar-intermediated correspondent banking system that has added cost and unpredictability to every intra-African transaction.
The second phase will introduce remittance services, merchant payment products, and application programming interfaces that allow businesses and payment providers to access accounts across PAPSS-connected countries through a single interface. These additions extend the system’s relevance beyond institutional cross-border payments into the everyday commercial transactions that small traders, market operators, and digital merchants conduct across African borders.
Nigeria’s active participation in the AfCFTA makes efficient intra-African payment infrastructure particularly relevant. Without a payment system that allows businesses to settle transactions in local currencies at low cost, the market access commitments embedded in AfCFTA treaties cannot fully translate into commercial activity.
AfCFTA creates the legal permission to trade across African borders. PAPSS creates the financial plumbing to settle those trades. Neither is sufficient without the other — and for Nigerian businesses pursuing continental market access, both are now further advanced than at any previous point.
