From the continent, for the continent: Building local instant payment systems to boost financial inclusion in Africa
Africa is undergoing a digital transformation marked by the growing adoption of mobile phones, including in remote areas, rapid innovation in fintech, and the ongoing development of public digital infrastructure such as interoperable payment systems and digital identification frameworks. These trends lay the essential foundations for inclusive economic growth.
Yet nearly 400 million Africans remain financially excluded, unable to access the most basic formal financial services. This contradiction is not only unacceptable and unsustainable, but it also risks deepening inequalities and limiting the impact of innovation. Closing this gap is crucial not only for economic development, but also for empowering communities, unlocking productivity, and ensuring that the digital revolution benefits everyone, everywhere.
As highlighted during the recent peer-learning visit held in Lagos by the AfricaNenda Foundation in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), it is time to move beyond reliance on imported systems and promote payment solutions designed and owned by Africans, tailored to our local realities. This event brought together senior stakeholders from across the continent to learn, reflect, and act.
Why local matters
Imported technologies can offer speed, but they do not necessarily guarantee suitability. African financial systems must account for our informal economies, linguistic diversity, infrastructure gaps, and our shared ambition for equity. As Dr Robert Ochola, Director General of the AfricaNenda Foundation, reminds us: “Africa can build its own systems and make them world-class.”
The goal is not simply to digitize, but to include. That means designing systems from the margins and making them accessible to the most vulnerable, notably women, youth, and the unbanked. True inclusion also requires USSD access for those without smartphones, the deployment of agent networks in remote areas, the provision of offline solutions, and fee structures that protect the poorest. It also involves building trust, not just technology.
NIBSS: a model of inclusive, scalable African innovation
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has long been a pioneer in Africa’s digital payments landscape, and its journey has just reached a major milestone.
Handling nearly one billion transactions each month, NIBSS is a 100% local payment system that operates 24/7 with real-time settlement, robust security, and inclusive features serving banks, fintechs, and other financial service providers.
NIBSS enables integration with banks, fintechs, mobile operators, agent networks, and other financial providers, thereby ensuring access for the unbanked. What makes the NIBSS model particularly inspiring for other African countries is its local design, close alignment with regulation, and its ability to scale across formal and informal sectors.
During the peer-learning visit, NIBSS unveiled the National Payment Stack (NPS), a next-generation payment infrastructure designed locally and building on the success of the NIBSS Instant Payments system (NIP).
Mr. Premier Oiwoh, Director General of NIBSS, presented the NPS as far more than a simple platform: a foundational investment in Nigeria’s financial future. He stressed the need to build African solutions that go beyond inherited frameworks and can support free trade through seamless financial flows.
He also emphasized the value of regulatory collaboration, attributing NIBSS’s success to its close partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria, a key factor in establishing a trusted, efficient, and future-ready payment infrastructure.
Far more than a new platform, the NPS is designed to deepen financial inclusion, improve the efficiency of public payments, and accelerate Nigeria’s progress toward a one-trillion-dollar digital economy.
AfricaNenda Foundation: a partnership for impact
The AfricaNenda Foundation exists to support countries in building inclusive instant payment systems (IIPS). We do not come with ready-made plans, but with listening, experience, and commitment. Our role is to support technical design, strengthen regulatory frameworks, and create communities of practice where countries can learn from one another.
The learning visit in Lagos brought together leaders representing more than 20 African countries, including Eswatini, Somalia, Togo, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, South Sudan, and many others. But it was more than a technical visit: it was the start of something bigger.
This meeting marked a collective commitment to a pan-African vision: to build scalable, interoperable, and inclusive instant payment systems that meet the real needs of the continent’s people. From exchanging national experiences to exploring shared challenges, the energy in the room reflected a shared conviction: Africa can and must take the reins of its digital financial future.
A call to action
The AfricaNenda Foundation and NIBSS agree: it is time to break down artificial barriers and jurisdictional silos. To that end, we reiterate the proposal of Mr. Musa Jimoh, Director of Payment Systems Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to establish an African Forum of Regulators on Instant Payment Systems. Such a platform would align standards, strengthen trust, and catalyze collaborative innovation across borders.
Let us not confuse digitization with inclusion. Let us not accept 99.9% where our people deserve 100%. Let’s build systems that reflect our realities, respect our diversity, and meet our ambitions.
As Chinua Achebe wrote: “The world is like a mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stay in one place.” Let’s move forward together. Let’s build boldly. Let’s go far.
Dr Robert Ochola is Director General of the AfricaNenda Foundation and Premier Oiwoh is Director General of NIBSS.