The Borderless Switch: Pesalink and PAPSS are Connecting 80 Kenyan Banks to the Rest of Africa – Tech | Business | Economy

Kenya’s instant payment network, Pesalink, has teamed up with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to unlock seamless, 24/7 cross-border transfers across Africa—settled in local currencies and delivered directly into Kenyan banks and mobile money operators. The move marks a significant step toward faster, cheaper, and more inclusive regional payments, strengthening financial integration across the continent.

What the partnership enables

The Pesalink–PAPSS connection allows participants on the PAPSS platform to send funds instantly to recipients within Kenya’s Pesalink ecosystem, including banks and mobile money services. Crucially, settlements occur in local currencies. By doing so, the arrangement reduces reliance on complex correspondent banking chains and foreign reserve currencies, which have traditionally slowed down and increased the cost of African cross-border payments.

Who is behind PAPSS

PAPSS is a pan-African financial market infrastructure developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat. Its mandate is to enable efficient, secure payments between African countries, creating the rails that support the African Continental Free Trade Area’s vision of a single market.

How Pesalink plugs in

Pesalink is now serving as a Technical Connectivity Provider to PAPSS. In practice, this means:

• More than 80 Kenyan institutions on the Pesalink network—including banks, fintechs, SACCOs, and telcos—gain connectivity to the PAPSS platform.
• They can exchange payments with over 160 commercial banks and fintechs already integrated with PAPSS across Africa.
• The integration broadens reach and accelerates adoption by enabling local-currency settlements, real-time processing, and expanded channels for cross-border transfers.

The problem it solves

For many African businesses and individuals, sending money across borders remains costly and slow. According to recent data on remittance prices, transfers within Africa commonly cost about 7–8% of the value sent—higher than the global average of 6–7%. Settlement times can stretch from three to seven business days, delaying cash flows, constraining SMEs, and limiting consumer choice.

Expected impact for users and businesses

• Faster payments: Near-instant transfers compared to multi-day settlement cycles.
• Lower costs: Reduced dependence on intermediary banks and foreign currencies can cut fees.
• Greater access: Individuals, SMEs, and corporates can transact more efficiently with partners across the continent.
• Stronger trade flows: Local-currency settlement aligns with AfCFTA’s objective to simplify intra-African commerce.

Industry voices

“For PAPSS to deliver true impact, collaboration with national and private switches like Pesalink is essential. Pesalink is the first switch we’ve piloted for transaction termination in Kenya, and we are already seeing greater adoption by opening more channels for seamless, local-currency cross-border payments across Africa.”

Pesalink leadership echoed the significance of the collaboration, highlighting the potential to streamline cross-border payments for Kenya’s banks and fintechs while offering consumers and businesses a more predictable, always-on experience.

Why this matters now

As African trade grows and digital services expand, the demand for reliable, instant, and affordable cross-border payment options is surging. By bridging national payment rails with a pan-African settlement layer, the Pesalink–PAPSS partnership helps remove structural friction that has historically inflated costs and increased settlement risk.

What to watch next

• Adoption curves among Kenyan banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators as more services activate PAPSS-linked corridors.
• Fee and FX transparency as local-currency settlement scales.
• Expansion to additional use cases, from remittances and SME supplier payments to payroll and e-commerce payouts.

Taken together, this integration is a foundational step toward a borderless African payments landscape—one where money moves at the speed of the continent’s ambitions, and where Kenyan institutions can connect to partners across Africa with lower costs, greater speed, and greater certainty.