At the recent AI Action Summit in Paris, Minister Samuel Nartey George made a spirited appeal for African nations to adopt the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS) over the global SWIFT network for cross-border transactions.
Speaking on behalf of President John Mahama, George argued that the continent’s potential for economic growth hinges on harnessing collective strengths rather than pursuing isolated national interests.
In his address at the Ministerial Fireside Session, held from February 10 to 11, 2025, George pointed out a glaring inconsistency: while many African banks are signed up to PAPSS, they continue to default to SWIFT. This reliance on SWIFT not only forces banks to convert local currencies to the U.S. dollar—resulting in extra costs—but it also channels funds outside the continent. “A farmer in Kenya selling tea to a shop in Ghana should not have to lose value in conversion fees,” he said, emphasizing the potential of PAPSS to keep money circulating within Africa and to drive intra-continental trade, especially under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area framework.
George’s vision extends beyond simple financial transactions. He sees the future of cross-border payments as intertwined with technological innovation. By leveraging shared data sets and linking SIM cards to specific devices and GPS locations, PAPSS could not only streamline payments but also help track and verify transactions in real time. This technological backbone, he suggested, would enable governments to provide timely funding for farmers during planting seasons, ensuring that the agricultural backbone of many African economies remains robust and that credit models can be accurately developed to support them.
While the minister’s proposals have generated enthusiasm among proponents of digital integration, they have also reignited longstanding debates about regulatory barriers. Prominent figures in the financial sector have pointed out that the promise of seamless cross-border payments can only be fulfilled if African central banks are willing to relinquish some degree of sovereignty for the sake of broader regional integration. Critics argue that without a unified regulatory framework, initiatives like PAPSS may remain underutilized. In response, there are signs of progress: Ghana and Rwanda are set to meet in Kigali to explore ways to integrate their payment systems without the cumbersome conversion to dollars, signaling a willingness among some countries to push past traditional regulatory constraints.
The minister’s call is both a challenge and an invitation. It challenges the status quo of banking practices that favor external systems and invites African nations to take ownership of their financial futures. Observers note that while the path forward is fraught with political and regulatory hurdles, the drive for a homegrown, efficient, and inclusive payment system is a critical step toward deeper economic integration on the continent. As the debate unfolds, the success of PAPSS may well become a litmus test for Africa’s ability to shape its own financial destiny in a rapidly digitalizing world.
