Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is a live cross-border payment platform for African markets. It enables a payer to initiate a transaction in one local currency and a beneficiary to receive another. PAPSS performs instruction, clearing and settlement functions; it does not remove every use of dollars or euros from the wider financial chain.

Operating model

PAPSS was launched commercially in January 2022 after a West African pilot. Under its published models, participants pre-fund positions and transactions are netted. Afreximbank supports the platform and acts as settlement agent. Central banks provide settlement and liquidity functions, while commercial banks and payment providers connect customers. In the central-bank model, Afreximbank credits or debits participating central banks' hard-currency settlement accounts. The system therefore reduces some transaction-level conversions and external routing, but does not eliminate hard-currency settlement at every layer.

PAPSS belongs to the broader move towards Network reconstitution (parallel rails). It may reduce dependence on some correspondent-banking routes and is relevant to De-dollarisation as backlash dynamic. That resilience claim should not be overstated. PAPSS is not sanctions-proof, and participants remain subject to applicable anti-money-laundering, sanctions and other compliance obligations.

Status and assessment

As at 30 July 2026, PAPSS remains operational. Its June 2026 coverage document is the appropriate source for current network reach. Published savings or foreign-exchange estimates are promoter estimates, not independently measured realised benefits. Assessment should distinguish connected jurisdictions, participating institutions, transaction volume, settlement currency and actual use.

The same controls apply to claims of strategic autonomy: potential capacity, actual payment traffic and demonstrated resilience under disruption are separate findings.

Sources

1. PAPSS, How it works (accessed 30 July 2026).
2. PAPSS, Get connected: settlement models and participant roles (accessed 30 July 2026).
3. PAPSS, Payments Network Coverage, June 2026.
4. PAPSS, About us (accessed 30 July 2026).