African exchanges join hands to improve cross-border payments
Lewanika Timothy | Tuesday May 30, 2023 06:00
Efforts to fast track the agreement followed investor complaints on the toil and strain associated with making cross border payments in Africa, often marked by delayed payments and currency conversion hurdles.
Under the umbrella of ASEA, an amalgamation with a total of nine exchanges and a combined market capitalisation of $1.5 trillion, the new payment system will provide an opportunity to further enhance the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), a flagship project of ASEA to facilitate cross-border trading of securities in Africa.
PAPSS CEO, Mike Ogbalu said the agreement serves as testament to the combined efforts to facilitate improved flows of capital across the African continent, adding that this will improve ease of doing business in the continent’s capital markets. “This partnership is a demonstration of our commitment to driving trade flows and economic growth in Africa.
“Through our collaboration, we aim to create a reliable and efficient payment system that will enable investors to easily trade across different stock exchanges on the continent,” said Ogbalu. For his part Botswana Stock Exchange Limited CEO, Thapelo Tsheole said the partnership is a means of improving the unity of Africa’s capital market, a move that will fast track investment and improve the efficiency of payments across the continent. “We are delighted to partner with PAPSS on this important initiative,” he said.
“Our capital markets’ integration initiative through the AELP will play a critical role in deepening Africa’s capital markets and promoting cross-border investment.”
The Pan African payment system has started a period of fast deployment of its system throughout all African nations, having already gone live in the countries that include the West African Monetary Zone namely Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Guinea. Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Djibouti recently joined the network and will soon be operational. The partnership with ASEA will also facilitate the deployment of the Pan African payment system across the ASEA member nations.