The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is pleased to announce the entry of the Kingdom of Morocco into its growing network, with Bank Al-Maghrib officially signing the PAPSS membership agreement. As a result, Morocco becomes the 17th country to join the PAPSS network, further solidifying the continent’s commitment to financial integration and intra-African trade under the banner of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, PAPSS enables real-time, efficient, and cost-effective cross-border payments in local currencies. By welcoming Bank Al-Maghrib, PAPSS advances its mission of connecting African central banks and facilitating seamless cross-border trade, payment flows, and investment across the continent.
Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, lauded this latest milestone, stating: “We are delighted to welcome Bank Al-Maghrib to the PAPSS family. Morocco’s entry as our seventeenth central bank member demonstrates the growing momentum and trust in PAPSS as the solution for Africa’s cross-border payment challenges. With more countries joining, we are taking significant strides towards a truly unified African market, driving down transaction costs and empowering businesses and individuals across the continent.”
With Morocco’s addition, PAPSS now has seventeen countries among its membership, along with over 150 commercial banks and 14 switches, and continues to expand its reach and impact across Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.
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About PAPSS:
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System – PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions. PAPSS collaborates with African central banks to offer payment and settlement solutions that commercial banks and licensed payment service providers (switches, fintechs, aggregators, etc.) across the continent can connect to, making these services accessible to the public. To date, PAPSS has developed and launched 3 payment solutions: PAPSS Instant Payment System (IPS), PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM), and the PAPSSCARD.
Afreximbank and the African Union (“AU”) first announced PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on December 5, 2020, the assembly of the African Union directed Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalise, among others, work on the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS). The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent. PAPSS was officially launched in Accra, Ghana, on January 13, 2022, thus making it available for use by the public.
For more information, visit: www.PAPSS.com.