The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) in collaboration with deep tech firm, Interstellar, has unveiled the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM) to address the $5 billion lost annually due to currency inconvertibility and trade inefficiencies across Africa.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Annual Meeting held in Abuja. PACM is designed to directly confront Arica’s longstanding currency challenges, allowing local currencies to be exchanged without routing through hard currencies like the dollar or euro.
Highlighting the impact of this problem on business operations, Mike Ogbalu, CEO of PAPSS said:
“Corporations, airlines, reinsurance firms, and multinationals operating across Africa still faced a persistent hurdle: trapped capital, arising from limited currency convertibility and overreliance on hard currencies.”
Ogbalu explained that over $2 billion remains ‘trapped’ in several African countries where airlines are unable to repatriate their revenues due to exchange restrictions or depreciation of local currencies.
“The PAPSS African Currency Marketplace is the answer to that problem — an extension of our commitment to building sovereign, frictionless financial infrastructure for Africa,” he added.
Jointly developed by PAPSS and Interstellar, PACM is a peer-to-peer, continent-wide platform that enables the direct exchange of African currencies in near real-time.
It is fully compliant with national regulations and is built to improve liquidity, unlock trapped funds and reduce foreign exchange costs.
Ernest Mbenkum, founder and CEO of Interstellar emphasized that the solution is built to specifically cater to African needs, making the local currency not just a medium of exchange, but a vehicle of opportunity.
Africa’s fragmented financial ecosystem, comprising 41 currencies and varied regulatory frameworks, has long stifled intra-African trade.
Businesses are often forced to convert through external currencies, losing billions annually to fees, delays, and opportunity costs.
This inefficiency has held back progress under initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
PACM is expected to accelerate financial integration across the continent, promote the use of local currencies, and strengthen Africa’s journey towards economic independence.
