According to a UN report released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), there is sustained growth in both the supply and demand for instant payment systems in Africa. The report stated that Africa is making strong progress towards the goal of having comprehensive and inclusive instant payment systems as part of Africa’s Digital Public Infrastructure, creating a seamless digital ecosystem for people, businesses, and governments.
The first edition of the State of Inclusive Instant Payment System (SIIPS) in Africa report was launched by AfricaNenda in October 2022 to inform public and private sector stakeholders on the developments of instant payment systems in Africa. This year’s edition of SIIPS highlighted developments in the instant payment system landscape and included a spotlight on cross border retail payments’ policy and regulatory harmonization in Africa.
The report also mentioned that three new instant payment systems have been launched in Ethiopia, Morocco, and South Africa in the last 12 months, bringing the total number of live domestic and regional instant payment systems on the continent to 32, even though they were not all inclusive.
The report stated, “The volume of payments and the total value of payments processed have grown rapidly since 2018, by 47 percent and 39 percent, respectively. IPS in Africa facilitated nearly 32 billion transactions valued at approximately 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.”
However, the report also noted that there are still challenges in bringing an inclusive instant payment system ecosystem in Africa. It mentioned that most of the live IPS are either not ranked due to lack of publicly available IPS data and information, or have reached only a basic level of inclusiveness.
The report further mentioned that 27 countries have yet to set up a domestic instant payment system, although 17 have plans on the way and three regional payment systems are also in progress across the continent. It also underscored significant advancement in digital payments adoption, playing a pivotal milestone for the effective realization of AfCFTA’s objectives.
The report indicated the need to address the exigent requirement for the establishment of trusted authentication systems that can work seamlessly across the continent through interoperable digital ID systems.
