K254 AFCFTA Business Review

Digital Financial Inclusion in the AfCFTA Quest for One African Market As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gains momentum, a powerful ally emerges to shape its success: digital financial inclusion. The transformative impact of digital payments on lives, societies, and economies cannot be overstated. The Better Than Cash Alliance, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat, is spearheading an effort to make digital payments responsible, ubiquitous, and a driving force in realizing Africa’s economic promise. Digital financial services, particularly digital payments, have already demonstrated their ability to reshape the African landscape. The urgency to foster responsible and widespread digital payments is both a challenge and an opportunity that holds immense potential for unlocking the continent’s economies. When executed responsibly, these digital transactions hold the key to unleashing Africa’s economic prowess. True digi...

About PAPSS The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System – 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’. Afreximbank and the African Union (“AU”) first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on the December 5, 2020, the assembly of African Union recommitted and instructed the Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalize among others, work on th...

The AFCFTA Business Review by: K254 Nairobi News ( k254nairobinews.com ) ABOUT US: AFCFTA Implementation, AFCFTA Countries, AFCFTA Trade, AFCFTA Developments, AfCFTA Advisory, AFCFTA Developments, AFCFTA Exporters, AFCFTA Rules of Origin, AFCFTA Tax Policies, AFCFTA Registration, AFCFTA Certification, AFCFTA Products & Services

  Afreximbank and AfCFTA announce the Operational Roll-out of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) Cairo and Accra, 28 September 2021:  – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and AfCFTA Secretariat announced today the operational roll-out of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a revolutionary Financial Market Infrastructure to enable instant, cross-border payments in local currencies between African markets. By simplifying cross-border transactions and reducing the dependency on hard currencies for these transactions, PAPSS is set to boost intra-African trade significantly and underpin the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). PAPSS will serve as a continent-wide platform for the processing, clearing and settling of intra-African trade and commerce payments, leveraging a multilateral net settlement system. Its full implementation is expected to save the continent more than US$5 billion in payment transaction...