By Vivian Ihechu
Lagos, Dec. 2, 2025
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is accelerating a significant shift in African trade, delivering broad benefits for banks, fintechs, and small enterprises, says its CEO, Mr. Mike Ogbalu.
Ogbalu spoke during the PAPSS COWRY 2025 Conference in Lagos on Tuesday, where specialists gathered to assess innovations shaping Africa’s emerging cross-border payment landscape and future economic opportunities.
The conference centred on the theme, ‘Building an Interoperable and Sovereign African Payment Ecosystem for Trade and Economic Growth,’ reflecting the organisers’ ambition for durable continental financial integration.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event marked a pioneering continental gathering dedicated entirely to Africa’s payments ecosystem and its potential to transform regional commerce and cooperation.
Hosted by PAPSS with Afreximbank, the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the meeting attracted stakeholders seeking a more sovereign, connected and efficient African payment infrastructure.
The name COWRY honours Africa’s ancient currency heritage, recalling how cowry shells once served as trusted mediums of exchange, symbolising value, trade, and social continuity across many societies.
Ogbalu traced enduring trade barriers to “the sins of colonisation”, lamenting how colonial decisions created fragmented systems and differing payment structures that still complicate continental commerce today.
He noted that colonialism imposed “different acceptable means of payment”, producing situations where “the naira used here in Nigeria was not accepted for trade in a place like Ghana.”
Ogbalu described this fragmentation as “a very vicious blow” to Africa’s unity, arguing that such divisions undermined integration and prevented genuine regional commercial expansion.
He said PAPSS was correcting historical distortions by linking 19 African countries and 160 key commercial banks, enabling fast, secure and local-currency settlements for cross-border transactions.
“So, today, there are banks who are beginning to see significant improvements in their margins,” he said, citing growing adoption across African financial markets.
He added that PAPSS could process transactions at “as low as 10 per cent of the alternative”, allowing banks and other operators to retain more earnings.
Ogbalu emphasised that small and medium-sized enterprises were at the heart of PAPSS, stressing the system’s inclusiveness and its potential to empower grassroots traders.
“We built this system for the small business person, the shoemaker,” he said, noting that PAPSS enables easy access to African markets without currency settlement worries.
He highlighted the crucial role of switches and technology firms, revealing that PAPSS had connected 15 national switching systems, significantly expanding cross-border traffic.
“You begin to see a lot more traffic,” he explained, adding that transactions now flow seamlessly “from one switch in one part of Africa to another.”
Ogbalu introduced the COWRY platform as a new collaborative environment designed to deepen networking, enhance innovation, and redefine African payment principles through shared ownership.
“We want the COWRY to be that event where we define payments in our own language,” he said, calling for culturally grounded financial solutions.
He urged stakeholders to commit to collective progress, saying, “Let us partner together to build Africa’s payments,” emphasising the need for unity and co-creation.
He added, “Thirdly, let us own this together, because sovereign payment is very critical for Africa’s survival,” pressing for long-term continental responsibility.
Prof Pius Olarenwaju, President, Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria (CIBN), stressed urgent reforms within Africa’s payment systems, highlighting CIBN’s dedication to strengthening financial leadership across the region.
He said numerous obstacles had “discouraged investment”, explaining that cross-border payments remained slow, costly and heavily dependent on foreign currencies and intermediary institutions.
Olarenwaju warned that Africa loses nearly $5 billion annually through settlement inefficiencies, while intra-African trade remains at only 18 per cent regionally.
He praised PAPSS, noting its expansion to 16 countries, the connection of more than 150 commercial banks and its ability to complete settlements in under 120 seconds.
“These are not just statistics,” he said, stressing that PAPSS represents African solutions “rooted with its own realities” rather than external models.
He argued that Africa cannot secure monetary stability while “over 80 per cent” of its intra-continental trade depends on external currency liquidity and foreign financial structures.
Olarenwaju called on policymakers, bankers and private leaders to “seize this golden opportunity” and drive purposeful collaboration that serves the continent’s collective economic ambition.
