Boosting the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System

The policy brief outlines how South Africa can leverage its 2025 G20 presidency and the African Union's (AU) G20 membership to promote the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade. It suggests aligning these African initiatives with the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments to improve the speed, cost, and transparency of international transactions. The author recommends that South Africa champion PAPSS adoption, foster collaboration between African central banks and Afreximbank, and utilize public-private partnerships to secure funding and technical assistance from organizations like the IMF and World Bank.

• South Africa's 2025 G20 presidency provides a strategic opportunity to align G20 digital and financial inclusion goals with the African Union's Agenda 2063, specifically by supporting the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade.
• The G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, established in 2020 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), aims to make international payments more affordable, quicker, transparent, and accessible by 2027.
• PAPSS is positioned as a potential early exemplar of the G20 Roadmap because it enables instant payments between different local African currencies, which can increase intra-African trade volumes.
• Successful implementation of PAPSS requires strong collaboration between African central banks and Afreximbank, as well as the harmonization of regulatory frameworks and payment system interoperability.
• PAPSS is expanding beyond the African continent, evidenced by a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arab Monetary Fund and adoption by all 11 central banks of the Caribbean Community.
• The document recommends that South Africa utilize public-private partnerships (PPPs) to attract sustainable funding and technical assistance from the IMF, World Bank, and FSB for digital public infrastructure (DPI) projects.

APA

Muleya, T. (2024). Boosting the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SAIIA_PN_6_G20PAPSSAfCFTA.pdf

Chicago

Muleya, Thabelo. Boosting the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2024. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SAIIA_PN_6_G20PAPSSAfCFTA.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Muleya |first1=Thabelo |title=Boosting the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=6 September 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SAIIA_PN_6_G20PAPSSAfCFTA.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{muleya2024boosting, author = {Muleya, Thabelo}, title = {{Boosting the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SAIIA_PN_6_G20PAPSSAfCFTA.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }