Stablecoins Eyed to Speed Intra-African Trade Under AfCFTA
With African cross-border payments still routed through the US dollar and correspondent banks, Nigeria and South Africa are exploring stablecoins as settlement infrastructure.
AfroEuropa Newsroom
AfroEuropa desk
Cross-border payments within Africa frequently rely on international banking networks and the US dollar, even when the transacting parties are both on the continent. According to TechCabal, a payment from a South African business to a supplier in Malawi is often routed through correspondent banks and the dollar before it reaches its destination, rather than moving directly between the two countries.
That routing sits at odds with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the continent's flagship trade agreement. TechCabal reported that Africa's payment infrastructure still reflects a period when African economies traded more heavily with Europe, the United States and Asia than with each other.
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