PAPSS

Liberia's two-currency mobile money switch has cleared L$4.1 billion and US$22.2 million in its first eight months, according to figures the central bank presented to central bank governors, regulators, development partners and financial institutions in Ghana. The central bank named the PAPSS launch in Liberia and the switch's deployment as the two achievements of its modernisation agenda.

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is being used for far smaller payments than a year ago, according to growth figures Afreximbank published on 11 September 2026. Volume growth far outpaced value growth, putting the mean payment at about a fifth of its year-earlier size. Afreximbank published the change as percentages rather than absolute counts and values.

Twenty-four central banks already participate in the cross-border settlement platform, according to the network's own figures.

Central Africa's CEMAC bloc gains access to pan-African instant payments after BEAC joins the Afreximbank-operated PAPSS network, extending coverage to 28 countries across the continent.

The integration of PesaLink with PAPSS marks the first time a national payment switch has served as a direct transaction termination point for the pan-African network. By connecting over 80 Kenyan banks, SACCOs, fintechs, and mobile money operators, the partnership opens East Africa's largest economy to instant cross-border payments in local currencies.

By connecting over 80 Kenyan financial institutions to more than 160 banks and fintechs across 12 African countries, the Pesalink-PAPSS integration establishes a replicable model for plugging domestic instant payment switches into a continental clearing layer that settles in local currencies without US dollar intermediation.

The integration means payments originating from any of the 19 countries currently connected to PAPSS can now reach Kenyan recipients around the clock. Pesalink serves as Kenya's real-time interbank payment network operated by Integrated Payment Services Limited, connecting the country's commercial banks and providing a bridge to mobile money ecosystems.

PAPSS added Kenya on February 26, 2026, connecting 80+ domestic financial institutions via PesaLink. The network now spans 19 African countries with local-currency settlement through Afreximbank.

The SARB and major South African commercial banks (Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa, Nedbank) are expected to complete PAPSS integration by mid-2026.

Morocco's Bank Al-Maghrib and Algeria's Banque d'Algérie completed central bank integrations with PAPSS, enabling commercial banks in both countries to process intra-African payments in local currencies without routing through European or American...