African cross-border payments remain difficult for businesses despite advances in domestic payment systems, according to Kelechi Uchegbulam, chief executive of Passpoint, who told the Africa Blockchain Festival 2026 in Nairobi that the continent must focus on connecting existing financial infrastructure.
Uchegbulam said Nigeria’s real-time payment systems, including NIP, and Kenya’s mobile money infrastructure had transformed how people and businesses move money within their countries. However, a Nairobi business paying a supplier in Lagos or a Nigerian exporter receiving funds from London can still encounter fragmented payment systems, multiple intermediaries, foreign exchange constraints, compliance requirements and unpredictable settlement times.
He argued that these problems make payments a critical part of trade infrastructure, alongside transport, energy, telecommunications and logistics. For African businesses seeking customers and suppliers across borders, the ability to move money reliably is directly connected to their capacity to trade and grow.
Domestic payment systems have outpaced cross-border transfers
Uchegbulam said African markets had made substantial progress in digitising domestic transactions, expanding financial access and building payment systems suited to local needs. He cited Nigeria’s NIP and Kenya’s mobile money ecosystem as examples of infrastructure that has changed how payments are made within national borders.
The challenge, he said, is connecting these systems so money can move between African countries and between the continent and the rest of the world.
A business making a cross-border payment may have to navigate several intermediaries and payment networks, with currency conversion and compliance requirements adding further steps. The result can be a process that is more complicated and less predictable than the domestic payment experience customers have come to expect.
“Commerce is becoming increasingly global while the financial infrastructure supporting it remains largely local,” Uchegbulam said.
He linked the problem to the ambitions of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which seeks to strengthen trade and economic integration across the continent. Businesses cannot fully benefit from new markets, he argued, if the financial systems supporting their transactions remain difficult to navigate.
Payment delays carry a cost for African businesses
Uchegbulam said the effects of payment friction extend beyond transaction fees and the time taken to send money.
For an exporter, delayed settlement can leave working capital tied up in a transaction instead of being available for the next purchase or shipment. For a small business, inefficient currency conversion can reduce already narrow margins. For a manufacturer, uncertainty over when a supplier will receive payment can disrupt operations and complicate expansion.
These costs accumulate across businesses and supply chains, making the efficiency of financial transfers an economic issue rather than simply a technical concern.
Uchegbulam argued that payment infrastructure should be treated as an essential component of commercial activity. Just as roads and ports allow goods to move between markets, financial systems must allow buyers and sellers to settle transactions reliably.
His argument was that trade agreements and access to new markets deliver greater practical value when businesses can receive and make payments without unnecessary friction.
Uchegbulam argues for interoperability over new rails
Uchegbulam said Africa already has a substantial collection of financial infrastructure, including banks, payment switches, mobile money services, instant payment systems and emerging digital asset networks. The priority, in his view, is to make those systems work together.
He described financial orchestration as an approach in which infrastructure coordinates the different parts of a transaction, including payment routing, currency conversion, compliance checks and visibility into the transaction’s progress.
Such a system would allow businesses to use connected payment options without having to manage every underlying process themselves. The goal is to make cross-border transfers simpler for customers while allowing financial institutions and payment providers to handle the complexity behind the scenes.
Uchegbulam said the industry should not assume that progress requires building an entirely new system whenever a problem arises. Connecting existing rails could help financial infrastructure serve businesses more effectively, provided the connections support reliable settlement, adequate liquidity and appropriate compliance.
He also called for cooperation among governments, regulators, banks, fintech companies and emerging providers. Regulatory dialogue and interoperable compliance standards, he said, are important to making cross-border services work across jurisdictions.
Stablecoins cannot solve every settlement problem
Uchegbulam also addressed the role of blockchain-based payments and stablecoins, arguing that they should complement banks and domestic payment systems rather than be treated as direct replacements for every existing service.
A transaction can be recorded on a blockchain quickly, he said, without the recipient necessarily gaining immediate access to the funds in a local bank account. Liquidity, currency conversion, compliance and the final settlement process still matter.
Stablecoins also do not automatically eliminate foreign exchange risk, liquidity constraints or regulatory obligations. Their usefulness in a cross-border transaction depends partly on the infrastructure that connects the digital asset to the recipient’s local financial system.
That distinction is important for businesses evaluating payment options. The speed of a transfer on one network does not by itself establish how quickly a supplier can use the money, how much value will be lost through conversion, or whether the payment can be completed reliably across the entire route.
Uchegbulam’s argument was that different payment technologies should be assessed according to the problem they solve and how effectively they work together.
Payments infrastructure is central to continental trade
Uchegbulam said Africa’s next payments challenge is building interoperable networks that support regional and global commerce. That requires both technical connections and cooperation among the institutions responsible for payments, regulation and financial services.
He argued that making money move more efficiently would help businesses expand, connect markets and pursue opportunities across borders. For exporters and smaller firms, predictable settlement and more efficient currency conversion can affect the amount of working capital available for daily operations.
“Africa has already demonstrated that it can build the rails. Our next responsibility is to connect them,” Uchegbulam said.
His address placed payment interoperability at the centre of Africa’s wider trade ambitions, arguing that the value of existing financial infrastructure depends on how effectively it supports transactions between markets.
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