Financial systemMarket brief
PAPSS says about ten more countries joined this year, and Nigeria's volumes are up around 1,100%
The pan-African payments network says Nigerian transaction volumes are up about 1,100% on a comparable period in 2025. Its chief executive says 2027 is about getting the network used.
What happened
PAPSS, the pan-African payments network, said on 11 September that about ten more countries have joined it this year and that Nigerian transaction volumes are up roughly 1,100% on a comparable period in 2025.
Why it matters
PAPSS lets a sender pay in their own currency while the recipient receives theirs, which is meant to cut the cost and delay of routing African payments through the dollar or the euro.
What to watch
Whether banks in Central Africa's CEMAC region connect by the end of 2026, and whether PAPSS can turn network growth into everyday use in 2027.
PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, said on 11 September that about ten more countries have joined its network in 2026, with more expected before the year ends. In a statement distributed on behalf of Afreximbank, it also said Nigeria had seen transaction volumes rise by about 1,100% and transaction values by 125%, comparing periods in 2025 and 2026.
PAPSS describes itself as a cross-border financial market infrastructure. A sender's bank or payment provider submits a payment in the sender's currency, PAPSS validates it, and the recipient's bank credits funds in the recipient's currency. It now says it operates in more than 30 African countries and connects 24 national and regional central banks, more than 200 commercial banks and payment providers, and 16 payment switches.
What the numbers do and do not say
The statement gives percentages but no baselines, and it does not say which months it compares. That limits what can be concluded. One thing follows from the arithmetic, though. A rise of 1,100% means volumes are about 12 times higher. A rise of 125% means values are about 2.25 times higher. If both figures cover the same period, the average payment is now roughly a fifth of its earlier size. That pattern fits growth in many small payments rather than a few large ones, but PAPSS has not published the data to confirm it.
Where the network is growing
On 9 July, Afreximbank announced that the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) had joined PAPSS. Banks and financial institutions in the CEMAC region are due to connect by the end of 2026, according to Ecofin Agency. BEAC's governor, Yvon Sana Bangui, said the membership "creates the conditions for strengthening payments between CEMAC countries and the rest of the continent," as Ecofin reported it.
In February, Kenya's Pesalink instant payment network signed a partnership with PAPSS. It lets PAPSS participants send payments to banks and mobile money operators on the Pesalink network, settled in local currencies. Pesalink links more than 80 Kenyan banks, fintechs, savings cooperatives and telecoms operators to more than 160 commercial banks and fintechs on PAPSS. The announcement did not give a launch date.
As we move into our next phase from 2027, our focus will increasingly shift towards activating that network.
That quote matters more than the country count. Joining a payment network and sending payments through it are different things. PAPSS's own priorities for the next phase are about the second: deeper market activation, more customer awareness, priority payment corridors and wider availability through participating institutions. It has not set numerical targets.
What to watch
- end-2026CEMAC banks connect. BEAC's membership was announced in July. Technical integration work was still to begin.
- 2027Activation phase. . PAPSS says its focus moves from adding members to growing use. It has set no targets yet.
- Next.Baselines.. Whether PAPSS publishes the volumes and values behind its percentages.