Pan-African Payment and Settlement System and Interstellar unveil African currency marketplace

Finextra

07-07-2025

Building on the successful rollout of its groundbreaking continental payment infrastructure, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), in strategic collaboration with Interstellar, a leading African deep-tech company, have announced the launch of the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM).
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The launch was announced on the sidelines of the 2025 Afreximbank (www.Afreximbank.com) Annual Meeting (AAM2025) held in Abuja from June 25 - 28.
This next-generation Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) represents a bold evolution of the PAPSS mission, addressing Africa's longstanding challenge of currency inconvertibility and enabling seamless, sovereign currency exchange for intra-African trade.
For decades, Africa's economic momentum has been hindered by a fragmented financial landscape. The continent's 41 currencies, diverse regulatory environments, and lack of convertibility have created significant friction. To trade with neighbouring countries, African businesses have often relied on external (hard) foreign currencies for foreign exchange, creating what experts call the "hard and costly currency bottleneck." This workaround drains an estimated $5 billion annually in fees, delays, and opportunity costs, undermining the competitiveness of African enterprises and slowing progress toward realising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
'PAPSS African Currency Marketplace is fully transparent, order book-driven, and operates with trusted counterparties, strictly adhering to local regulatory frameworks and global best practices,' affirmed Mike Ogbalu III, CEO of PAPSS. 'By creating a single, continent-wide liquidity pool, PACM serves as a powerful liquidity engine for intra-African commerce.' This launch marks a major strategic evolution in the PAPSS journey. According to Mr Ogbalu, since its official launch in 2022, PAPSS has enabled real-time cross-border payments across 17 countries, connecting 14 national switches and over 150 commercial banks. Initially piloted in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), PAPSS rapidly expanded to become the core settlement layer of the AfCFTA's financial infrastructure. But while payment rails were laid, a deeper issue remained.
'We soon realised that solving for payments alone was not enough,' explained Mike Ogbalu. 'Corporations, airlines, reinsurance firms, and multinationals operating across Africa still faced a persistent hurdle: trapped capital, arising from limited currency convertibility and overreliance on hard currencies.' For example, he explained, over $2 billion is currently 'trapped' in African countries where airlines operate, unable to repatriate their funds due to exchange restrictions or depreciation of local currencies. 'The PAPSS African Currency Marketplace is the answer to that problem -- an extension of our commitment to building sovereign, frictionless financial infrastructure for Africa.' He added.
The PAPSS African Currency Marketplace jointly developed by PAPSS and Interstellar, enables the direct exchange of African currencies without passing through hard currencies. As a transparent, continent-wide, peer-to-peer platform, it allows businesses to trade directly in local currencies in near real-time while remaining compliant with national regulations. It unlocks liquidity, releases trapped capital, eliminates excessive foreign exchange costs, and supports the continent's long-term goal of financial sovereignty. In partnership with PAPSS, the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace is built on Interstellar's enterprise-grade, blockchain-agnostic infrastructure, which enables the use of permissioned blockchain technology while ensuring institutional grade-security, scalability, and near instant settlement.
'This is not just about technology, it is about fulfilling a continental vision,' said Ernest Mbenkum, Founder and CEO of Interstellar during a fireside chat at the launch. 'PAPSS African Currency Marketplace was built from the ground up to serve Africa's specific needs. PAPSS and Interstellar are not just collaborators, we are co-architects of a new financial future, aligned in purpose and committed to transformation.'
Ernest Mbenkum further emphasised, 'African currencies deserve a better place in the world. With this marketplace, your local currency is no longer just a medium of exchange, it becomes a vehicle of opportunity.' He also highlighted that this is only the beginning of Interstellar's vision, stating, 'We're building a future where Africa no longer needs to wait for foreign rails to move value. Our infrastructure will power Africa's financial renaissance.'
Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President of Afreximbank, noted: 'The PAPSS African Currency Marketplace gives us the power to transform trade dramatically, bringing us to trade with each other with a major benefit that we can now accept each other's currency.'
The impact is already being felt. During its pilot phase, more than 80 African corporates transacted across 12 currency pairs, with all transactions settled in local currencies. For example, a company like Kenya Airways, which earns Nigerian Naira from ticket sales, can now use PACM to directly exchange Naira for Kenyan Shillings—without converting through a third currency. Early adopters include ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) and Access View Africa, which called the platform 'a dream come true.'
PAPSS African Currency Marketplace liberates trapped capital, eliminates excessive FX costs, and transforms multi-week settlement delays into near real-time execution. PAPSS CEO Mr. Ogbalu noted that following positive experiences of some early adopters, PAPSS had received interest from institutions outside Africa seeking to join the ecosystem. 'This demand proves the value of what we've built,' he said.
With over 150 banks already connected through PAPSS and growing demand across the continent, PAPSS African Currency Marketplace stands as a game-changing financial tool for a more unified, sovereign, and efficient Africa.
Concluding his opening keynote, Mr. Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President - Global Trade Bank at Afreximbank reiterated: 'Africa will not rise by ideas. Africa will rise by actions. "
The PAPSS African Currency Marketplace is now open to eligible corporations, financial institutions, and other market participants across the continent.