The Pan-African Payment and Settlement platform (PAPSS) was officially launched on the 13th of January in Accra following the operational roll-out of the platform in 2021.
PAPSS which has been described by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, as a ‘breakthrough achievement’ is estimated to save Africa more than $5 billion in yearly transaction costs.
PAPSS is the first centralized payment market infrastructure for intra-African trade and commerce payments processing, clearing, and settlement. It was established by the Afreximbank in collaboration with the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) as a key facilitator of the AfCFTA and intra-African trade.
“This project is a pioneering effort at achieving a pan-African payments and settlements system which will enable Africa to reduce reliance on third currencies, and more importantly, it has the potential to significantly boost intra-Africa trade.” said Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA
Key Features of PAPSS Instant Payment include:
- Instant and irrevocable credits to customer accounts
- Immediate confirmation to both originator and beneficiary
- Service availability 24/7, 365 days a year
- ISO 20022 global message standard allowing interoperability, large data sets and rich data for payment and remittance information
- Secure infrastructure, incorporating cyber-security and payment fraud systems underpinned by behavioural analytics and machine learning capabilities.
