In a significant stride toward a more integrated African economy, Onafriq Nigeria Payments Ltd has partnered with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to launch the continent’s first wallet-based outbound payment pilot from Nigeria to Ghana.
Approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), this landmark initiative allows individuals and SMEs in Nigeria to send money instantly to Ghana directly from their mobile wallets in Naira. By settling transactions in local currencies, the system eliminates the traditional, costly reliance on hard currency conversion (such as the U.S. Dollar), effectively turning national borders into “invisible” lines for trade.
The pilot, which officially began its six-month operational phase on December 1, leverages a massive technological intersection. Onafriq provides the “mobile money rails” through an ecosystem of over 1 billion mobile wallets, while PAPSS (backed by Afreximbank) contributes a network of over 160 commercial banks and 400 million accounts.
For Nigerian SMEs, the engine of intra-African trade, this pilot offers a formal, secure alternative to expensive correspondent banking and informal channels, which often suffer from settlement delays and opaque exchange rates.
This outbound service from Nigeria completes a bi-directional trade corridor, building on the successful Ghana-to-Nigeria inbound pilot launched earlier in 2025. Mxolisi Msutwana, Managing Director for Anglophone West Africa at Onafriq, emphasized that the collaboration is about “opening trade corridors and giving African enterprises the rails they need to trade with confidence in their own currencies.”
As the pilot continues through May 2026, regulators will evaluate transaction flows and FX performance to determine how this model can be scaled across the AfCFTA’s 54 member states to unlock billions in untapped trade potential.
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