Pan-African card scheme launches
0
The Papsscard is a joint venture between African Export-Import Bank, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (Papss) and Mercury Payment Services.
They note that most African card payments are currently routed through global systems causing increased fees and loss of data control. By processing transactions entirely within the continent, Papsscard aims to keeps value, data, and economic benefit in Africa.
Benedict Oramah, chairman, African Export-Import Bank, says: "For too long, Africa's reliance on external payment systems has impeded trade, increased costs, and compromised control over our financial data.
"Papsscard changes that. It empowers us to move money swiftly, securely, and affordably across our borders. It is a transformative step towards strengthening intra-African trade and preserving value within the continent."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
FF News
3 hours ago
- FF News
2025 Country Report on Cameroon: the African Development Bank Urges the Country to Strengthen Capital Mobilization for Sustainable Growth
The African Development Bank Group ( ) officially launched its 2025 Country Report on Cameroon in Yaoundé on 22 July 2025. The launch ceremony featured frank and wide-ranging discussions on the country's economic challenges. Country reports form part of the African Development Bank's African Economic Outlook 2025 which provides an annual assessment of the economic performance and outlook of the continent's 54 countries by examining growth trends, socio-economic challenges, and development progress. The 2025 AEO report was released last May during the Bank Group's Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, under the theme 'Maximizing Africa's Capital for Sustainable Development. 'Making Cameroon's Capital Work Better for its Development,' highlights the levers that will enable the country to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and boost inclusive and resilient growth. It calls on the government, the private sector, civil society, and development and financial partners to collectively re the drivers of the country's structural transformation. The ceremony was attended by members of the Cameroonian government, notably representatives from the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade as well as the business sector. The report paints a picture of an economy in recovery, with estimated growth of 3.6 percent in 2024, mainly by continued investment in infrastructure and strong momentum in manufacturing industries, which have benefited from efforts to transform local agricultural and textile products. The country paper relies on a detailed analysis to identify sectors where Cameroon can make progress, particularly in mobilizing domestic resources, strengthening governance, improving the business climate, digitalization and optimizing its natural capital potential. The report also identifies several priority reforms to enable Cameroon to transform its potential into concrete growth drivers, including reducing tax exemptions and accelerating digitalization, restructuring strategic public corporations, particularly in the energy and refining sectors. Report findings also stress the importance of strengthening governance, transparency and the rule of law through greater accountability and the publication of the financial statements of public corporations. This includes the need to adopt the National Integrated Financing Strategy (SNFI) to diversify funding sources and leverage carbon market opportunities. Consolidating the financial sector, processing commodities locally and developing regional infrastructure round out the list of priorities. Finally, the report calls for preserving macroeconomic balances by gradually reducing fuel price subsidies at the pump while supporting investment spending, prioritizing concessional financing, accelerating development in insecure areas and strengthening budgetary capacity to better absorb shocks. Ameth Saloum Ndiaye, African Development Bank Senior Country Economist for Cameroon and Godwill Kan Tange, Country Economist for Cameroon, presented the report's main findings. They emphasized the report's concrete proposals to optimize the use of budgetary resources, as well as the country's natural, human and financial capital, with a view to stimulating more inclusive and sustainable growth. The presentation also explored key issues such as public corporation reform, governance, debt management, industrial development, vocational training and the challenges of mobilizing innovative financing, as well as sovereign debt ratings for African economies. 'The African Development Bank Group commends the Cameroonian authorities for their commitment to implementing a National Integrated Financing Strategy, which is currently being adopted and should enable the country to diversify financing sources for its development agenda. This means that the report is fully aligned with the government's priorities,' said Mamadou Tangara , Head of Operations, speaking on behalf of the Bank's Director General for Central Africa. The Secretary General of Cameroon's Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Jean Tchoffo, representing the Bank's Governor for Cameroon, welcomed the Bank's recommendations, which are aligned with the National Development Strategy 2030 (SND30). 'This report comes at a key moment, as we are conducting a mid-term review of the implementation of our National Development Strategy 2020-2030,' Tchoffo said . 'We are convinced that its recommendations will enrich our thinking and strengthen our efforts to return to solid, sustainable and inclusive growth and accelerate the structural transformation of our economy.' By presenting the Cameroon Country Report 2025, the African Development Bank supports Cameroon's push for structural transformation, stronger capital mobilization, and resilient growth.
Finextra
4 hours ago
- Finextra
Clearpool to provide stablecoin financing for fintechs
Clearpool is expanding into Payment Financing (PayFi), a rapidly growing credit vertical powering global stablecoin payments for leading fintechs across remittance, card processing, and on/off-ramp services. 0 Clearpool will be launching a new product, PayFi Credit Pools, for users to access these highly liquid, real-world yield opportunities and cpUSD, a permissionless, yield-bearing asset that enables retail to tap into the fastest-growing segment of real-world stablecoin payments. ✓ Highly liquid ✓ Non-crypto-related, real-world yield ✓ No long lockups ✓ DeFi-composable The Stablecoin Moment Is Now Stablecoins have become core infrastructure powering payments, remittances, and merchant rails worldwide. From LATAM to Africa to Southeast Asia, and even Europe or the US, a new generation of fintechs is using USDC and USDT to settle real-world flows instead of traditional banking rails. However, while stablecoins settle quickly, fiat money doesn't always move as fast. Fintechs Need Working Capital Remittance platforms, cross-border processors, and card issuers process billions of dollars every day. But to deliver instant transfers or swipe-to-settle experiences, they must prefund liquidity. Meanwhile, settlement from the sender side takes 1-5 days. Without credit, these fintechs face a cash gap, a working capital void that slows down their operations. Enter Payment Financing (PayFi), a trillion-dollar industry once reliant on heavy pre-funding, is now being revolutionized by stablecoins offering real-time liquidity and flexible funding solutions. 'After originating over $830+ million in stablecoin loans, Clearpool is evolving to build the credit infrastructure needed to power the trillion-dollar stablecoin payments industry,' said Jakob Kronbichler, CEO & Cofounder of Clearpool. 'What many overlook is that while stablecoins settle instantly, fiat does not, forcing fintechs to front liquidity to bridge that gap. Clearpool is solving this with trusted, proven credit infrastructure, now advancing further through PayFi credit pools and cpUSD.' Clearpool's PayFi Credit Pools Introducing the first PayFi Credit Pools through Port Vaults. Clearpool facilitates credit to institutional lenders specializing in short-term stablecoin-based working capital to fintech operators. This includes remittance platforms or credit card issuers that must front liquidity for every transaction. Clearpool is the liquidity behind the liquidity.
Coin Geek
5 hours ago
- Coin Geek
$4 million Kenyan bank theft linked to USDT laundering: report
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Stablecoin adoption has skyrocketed in Africa, where use cases span cross-border remittances, payments, and hedging against depreciating local currencies. However, their use in crime is also on the rise. In Kenya, cybercriminals who stole over $4 million from a local bank reportedly laundered the proceeds through USDT and decentralized platforms. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, authorities are sounding the alarm about politicians concealing their embezzled funds in digital asset wallets. $4M from Kenyan bank heist laundered via USDT The Kenyan Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) recently revealed that one unnamed local bank lost Kshs. 517 million (just over $4 million) in a cyber heist that breached its card security system. The bank was reportedly targeted by its security contractors, who downgraded its security configurations, enabling them to bypass protocols such as one-time passwords. After altering the system, the criminals generated new digital wallets, which they used to siphon funds from customer accounts. They then used the funds to purchase the USDT stablecoin, which they transferred across several decentralized platforms, limiting authorities' ability to track the funds. FRC didn't reveal the bank, the contractors, or the decentralized platforms the criminals used to launder the funds. However, USDT's role in criminal activities isn't new, with the stablecoin steadily replacing BTC as cybercriminals' favorite digital asset. In recent years, one exposé after another has revealed that criminals—from pig butchering fraudsters in Southeast Asia to hackers in North Korea—have been relying on USDT and loosely regulated Caribbean banks to launder billions of dollars. Just over a month ago, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil complaint to seize over $225 million linked to digital currency scams, with a majority being in USDT. A week prior, the DOJ charged the founder of a digital currency platform with laundering over $500 million for criminals via USDT. Even the UN has decried the use of USDT in pig butchering scams, underground casinos, and other forms of organized crime. Back in Kenya, digital asset crime has been rising as adoption skyrockets. Kenyan investors were second only to Nigeria in funds lost to CBEX, a scam that made off with $800 million. The East African nation's loose digital asset regulations also landed it on the FATF's grey list last year. The government immediately formed a 'crypto' working group to resolve the FATF's concerns, but it has yet to be taken off the list. Nigerian politicians hide loot in 'crypto' In Nigeria, the country's anti-graft watchdog has accused corrupt politicians of hiding embezzled funds in digital asset wallets. Ola Olukoyede, who chairs the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleged that these politicians see digital assets as untraceable, making them the go-to conduit for stashing illicit wealth. 'Our findings show that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes to hide their loot in cryptocurrencies to evade the investigative dragnets of anti-corruption agencies. Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets, and payments for services are now made through this window,' he said in his speech at an event marking the Africa Anti-Corruption Day. Nigeria is Africa's largest digital assets market; last year, it accounted for nearly half of all digital asset transaction volume on the continent. The West African nation is also one of Africa's most corrupt. With a 26 out of 100 score in last year's Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, it ranked 140th out of 180 countries. Nigerian politicians are not the first to turn to digital assets in corrupt dealings. And with more governments warming to the sector, the lines between legitimate innovation and underhanded digital currency deals will only become more blurred. In the U.S., for instance, scholars and legal experts have criticized President Donald Trump's 'crypto' ventures as corrupt self-enrichment projects. 'Trump's profiting from his presidential memecoin is a textbook example of what the [founders] wanted to avoid,' commented former federal prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig. 'I have never seen such open corruption in any modern government anywhere,' added Harvard University's governance professor Steven Levitsky. Beyond hiding their loot, Nigerian officials have been accused of taking bribes to advance the interests of some VASPs. During last year's Binance saga, the exchange alleged that government officials demanded a $150 million bribe to release the then-detained Tigran Gambaryan. Watch: Tech redefines how things are done—Africa is here for it title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
