African leaders explore digital money to cut payment costs

African regulators and industry experts discuss stablecoins and trade at the Africa Stablecoin Summit 2025. [File, Standard]

African officials, fintech leaders and regulators met in Johannesburg this week to discuss using digital money to make payments faster and cheaper across borders.

Delegates included representatives from the governments and central banks of Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and South Africa, along with participants from the United Nations, Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The summit, called Africa Stablecoin Summit 2025, focused on how stablecoins, a type of digital money tied to traditional currencies like the US dollar, could reduce remittance costs and support trade.

Larry Cooke, Africa head of legal at Binance, said, "Stablecoins are more than a technological innovation-they are a pathway to inclusive cross-border financial systems that can empower businesses and individuals across Africa."

Shahebaz Khan, senior vice president at Visa, observed, by pairing stablecoins with Visa's technology, "we see potential to modernise payments, making them faster and more accessible for consumers and businesses."

Paul Neuner, chief executive of Telcoin, explained Stablecoin adoption could allow telecom companies to facilitate direct transactions from consumer to merchant, creating a digital internet of money.

Sessions at the summit, held on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12, covered regulation, infrastructure and practical adoption in fintech, trade and small businesses.

A regulators' roundtable focused on creating a pan-African stablecoin framework, while panels examined real-world applications in enterprise and finance.

Stablecoins already accounted for 43 per cent of cryptocurrency transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria alone recording nearly $22 billion in transactions between July 2023 and June 2024, according to Yellow Card. Analysts estimate over $300 billion in stablecoin transactions flow through African markets annually.

Organisers said the summit aimed to address challenges including currency instability, fragmented payment systems and high remittance costs.