Pesalink, Kenya's national instant payment network operated by Integrated Payment Services Limited, announced on February 26, 2026, that it has integrated with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System. The partnership makes Pesalink the first domestic payment switch on the continent to serve as a direct termination point for PAPSS cross-border transactions, enabling instant settlement of inbound payments from across Africa into Kenyan bank accounts and mobile money wallets.
The integration connects more than 80 Kenyan financial institutions on the Pesalink network, including commercial banks, fintechs, savings cooperatives and telecommunications operators, to over 160 commercial banks and fintechs participating in PAPSS across its member countries. Cross-border payments flow through the system in local currencies, bypassing the US dollar conversion that has historically added cost, delay and counterparty risk to intra-African transfers. PAPSS settles net positions centrally through the African Export-Import Bank, providing a multilateral clearing mechanism that replaces bilateral correspondent banking arrangements.
The commercial rationale is clear. Remittance costs for African corridors average between seven and eight percent of the transfer value, and settlement times can stretch to a week when payments must route through correspondent banks outside the continent. The Pesalink-PAPSS link offers instant settlement around the clock at substantially lower cost, targeting the friction that inhibits intra-continental trade and personal remittances.
Kenia's connection is significant because it adds one of East Africa's largest and most diverse financial markets to the PAPSS network. Pesalink's membership base spans the full range of Kenyan financial institutions, from major commercial banks to mobile money operators and savings cooperatives, giving PAPSS reach into segments of the Kenyan economy that traditional correspondent banking channels do not serve. A separate pilot between Onafriq and PAPSS is testing wallet-based outbound payments from Nigeria to Ghana settled entirely in naira, further extending the types of payment instruments the system can handle. Together, these integrations are building a pan-African payment mesh that supports the trade finance objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area.