Morocco has become the 17th country to welcome the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a centralised financial market infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, as Bank Al-Maghrib officially signed the PAPSS membership agreement.
Through Bank Al-Maghrib, PAPSS is advancing its mission of connecting African central banks and offering payment and settlement solutions that commercial banks and licensed payment service providers (switches, fintechs, aggregators, etc.) across the continent can connect to, making these services accessible to the public.
Now present in seventeen countries, over 150 commercial banks and 14 switches, Mike Ogbalu III, chief executive officer of PAPSS, commented on how the infrastructure’s expansion into Morocco solidifies the continent’s commitment to financial integration and intra-African trade under the banner of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“We are delighted to welcome Bank Al-Maghrib to the PAPSS family. Morocco’s entry as our seventeenth country of presence demonstrates the growing momentum and trust in PAPSS as the solution for Africa’s cross-border payment challenges. With more countries joining, we are taking significant strides towards a truly unified African market, driving down transaction costs and empowering businesses and individuals across the continent.”
Behind the idea: PAPSS
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union (AU) first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on 7 July, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Further, in its 13th extraordinary session, held on 5 December, 2020, the assembly of the African Union directed Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalise, among others, work on the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS).
The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent. PAPSS was officially launched in Accra, Ghana, on January 13, 2022, thus making it available for use by the public.
PAPSS has developed and launched 3 payment solutions: PAPSS Instant Payment System (IPS), PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM), and the PAPSSCARD.
