Building on the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and deep-tech firm Interstellar have launched the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM).
The announcement was made during the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja, held from 25 to 28 June.
PACM is designed to address Africa’s long-standing issue of currency inconvertibility, aiming to ease intra-African trade by allowing businesses to exchange local currencies directly, without relying on external hard currencies.
Africa’s fragmented financial landscape, consisting of 41 currencies and differing regulatory environments, has forced businesses to rely on hard currencies for trade, resulting in what has been described as a “hard and costly currency bottleneck.”
This dependency is estimated to cost the continent around $5 billion annually due to fees, delays, and lost opportunities.
“The African Currency Marketplace is fully transparent, order book-driven, and operates with trusted counterparties under local regulations and global standards,”
said Mike Ogbalu III, CEO of PAPSS.
He noted that PACM creates a continent-wide liquidity pool that supports intra-African trade.
Since its official launch in 2022, PAPSS has enabled real-time cross-border payments in 17 countries, integrating 14 national switches and over 150 commercial banks.
However, despite progress in payments infrastructure, many businesses still face issues related to currency restrictions.
“Payments alone were not enough,”
Ogbalu said.
“Firms still face trapped capital due to limited currency convertibility and dependency on hard currencies.”
He cited the aviation industry as one example, where over US$2 billion remains trapped due to restrictions on currency repatriation.
PACM, developed in collaboration with Interstellar, allows for near real-time local currency transactions across borders, operating within national regulatory frameworks.
It eliminates the need for intermediary currencies, supports liquidity, and reduces excessive foreign exchange costs.
The platform is built on Interstellar’s enterprise infrastructure, using permissioned blockchain technology to ensure scalability and security.
“This is not just about technology. It is about meeting Africa’s specific needs,”
said Ernest Mbenkum, CEO of Interstellar.
“With this marketplace, local currency becomes a vehicle of opportunity.”
During its pilot phase, over 80 corporates traded across 12 currency pairs.
Transactions were settled in local currencies, including examples such as Kenya Airways exchanging Nigerian naira directly for Kenyan shillings without converting through a third currency.
Early users included ZEP-RE and Access View Africa.
Featured image credit: Afreximbank
