Cross-border payments within Africa remain slow and expensive, often relying on correspondent banking networks and foreign reserve currencies. With remittance costs averaging 7–8% and settlement times stretching up to a week, inefficiencies directly impact SMEs, traders and families. The Pesalink–PAPSS partnership tackles this friction by enabling instant, 24/7 cross-border payments settled in local currencies — a significant step toward reducing cost, complexity and currency dependency.
By connecting over 80 Kenyan financial institutions on Pesalink to more than 160 banks and fintechs on PAPSS, the integration strengthens the payment rails underpinning the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Local-currency settlement also helps mitigate FX exposure and preserves liquidity within African markets, supporting broader financial integration objectives.
Pesalink, Kenya’s de facto instant payment network, has partnered with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to ease cross-border payment and speed up regional financial integration.
The partnership enables instant 24/7 cross-border payments from PAPSS participants into banks and mobile money operators within the Pesalink network in Kenya, all settled in local currencies. This reduces complex correspondent banking requirements and reliance on foreign reserve currencies.
