The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System announced on September 11, 2026, that it operates in over 30 countries and plans accelerated growth for 2027. Transaction volumes surged by approximately 1,000 percent year-over-year, while total transaction values rose about 120 percent, driven by expanding central bank and commercial partnerships.
When Afreximbank and the African Union first announced the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System in Niamey on July 7, 2019, and formally launched it in Accra on January 13, 2022, the architecture aimed to solve a fundamental friction in intra-continental trade. For decades, commercial transactions between African nations routinely cleared through correspondent banks outside the continent. That reliance created severe financial bottlenecks.
Now, the infrastructure is moving from foundational setup into an aggressive expansion phase. Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos on September 11, 2026, PAPSS Chief Executive Officer Mike Ogbalu III detailed how the platform has scaled to connect 24 central banks, over 200 commercial banks and fintech providers, and 16 domestic switches across more than 30 African countries spanning all five regions of the continent.
Explosive Transaction Growth and Cost Reductions
The financial metrics released by the organization indicate a sharp acceleration in usage. Between comparable periods in 2025 and 2026, network transaction volumes jumped by approximately 1,000 percent, while transaction values grew by roughly 120 percent. Nigeria continues to anchor a significant share of that activity, posting an approximately 1,100 percent increase in transaction volumes and a 125 percent increase in transaction values over the same timeframe.
Operational efficiency gains match the volume expansion. PAPSS transactions yield cost savings between 92 and 95 percent per transfer, cut processing times by 99.99 percent—reducing settlement windows from three to five days down to a maximum of 120 seconds, with transactions currently averaging around seven seconds—and decrease foreign exchange requirements by up to 80 percent. Businesses can initiate payments in local currencies such as the naira, bypassing the need to source United States dollars or euros.
“The first phase of PAPSS has been about building, connecting and establishing trust. We have built the infrastructure, expanded our network across Africa and demonstrated that PAPSS can deliver tangible benefits. As we move into our next phase from 2027, our focus will increasingly shift towards activating that network, deepening adoption and taking transaction growth to scale.”
Mr Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS
Strategic Integrations
Beyond traditional banking corridors, PAPSS is actively broadening its ecosystem through high-profile integrations. During the Middle East and Africa Conference in Cairo, held from September 7 to 9, 2026, PAPSS outlined a planned link with Egypt’s Instapay platform, which operates under the Central Bank of Egypt. The Central Bank of Egypt formally joined the payment network in November 2024, and six local commercial banks are currently seeking final regulatory approvals to complete their integration.
Executives project that linking PAPSS with Instapay could elevate the share of cross-border payments originating from Egypt to between 60 and 70 percent over the next five years. Parallel discussions are underway to connect the infrastructure with payment networks in the United Arab Emirates, India, and China.
Next Milestones: COWRY 2026 and Strategic Partnerships
The next major checkpoint for the network will occur in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where PAPSS and the National Bank of Ethiopia will co-host the annual COWRY 2026 payments conference from November 26 to 27, 2026.
