Africa Urged to Link Instant-Payment Systems for Cross-Border Trade

What changed

African countries are being urged to link their instant-payment systems so money can cross borders faster, more cheaply and with fewer barriers.

The SIIPS Report 2025 says the number of countries with instant-payment systems supporting cross-border transactions rose from six in 2024 to 11 in 2025. Africa now has 36 live instant-payment systems across 31 countries.

Why it matters

Today, fragmented infrastructure, different payment rules, currency-conversion costs and settlement problems can make a simple cross-border payment slow and expensive. Linking national systems could let businesses pay suppliers in near real time, help investors move funds more efficiently and reduce delays for families receiving remittances.

The proposal fits the African Continental Free Trade Area’s goal of building a single market for goods and services. The African Union’s digital-trade framework also calls for interoperable systems and more consistent rules.

The hard part is coordination. Governments and regulators would need to align payment rules, connect the technical systems and work across jurisdictions. In eligible corridors, settling transactions in local currencies could also reduce reliance on third-party currencies.

The outlook is promising but still conditional: the expansion of cross-border-capable systems shows movement, while no timetable, participating corridors or fee reductions have yet been confirmed. The central test is whether national payment networks can become a continent-wide system that moves money as efficiently as goods and services.