The Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) has teamed up with the African Securities Exchange Association (ASEA) to boost collaboration and cooperation in cross-border payments of Capital Markets infrastructure in Africa. At the ASEA 2023 Building African Financial Markets Seminar held in Zimbabwe, the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen the integration and connectivity of African capital markets.
Investors have long struggled with making and settling cross-border payments in Africa due to the slow and expensive nature of the existing environment. To address this, Afreximbank and AfCFTA developed PAPSS, which enables instant cross-border payments in local currency. PAPSS is currently undergoing a rapid deployment throughout all African nations and has already gone live in countries within the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) namely Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Guinea. Similarly, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Djibouti have joined the network and will soon be operational.
Through the ASEA, PAPSS will be integrated with the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), a flagship project of ASEA to facilitate the cross-border trading of securities in Africa. This partnership will facilitate the deployment of PAPSS across the ASEA member nations and aims to create a reliable and efficient payment system that will enable investors to easily trade across different stock exchanges on the continent.
The Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, Mr. Mike Ogbalu III, expressed his delight at the signing, stating that the collaboration with ASEA is a significant step towards the rollout of PAPSS throughout the continent. He further stated that the partnership is a demonstration of their commitment to driving trade flows and economic growth in Africa, with the immediate task being to identify ways to facilitate the transfer of funds across ASEA member African Stock Exchanges.
The President of ASEA, Mr. Thapelo Tsheole, also expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating that their capital markets integration initiative through the AELP will play a critical role in deepening Africa’s capital markets and promoting cross-border investment. PAPSS’s expertise in payment settlement will be instrumental in the cross-border transfer of funds among the participating exchanges.
PAPSS is dedicated to fostering the growth of a thriving payment ecosystem and encouraging the development of new solutions for the economic advancement of the African continent and its people.
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