The Federal Government has proposed the development of a cross-border payment card that would allow transactions between African currencies without the need for conversion through the United States dollar or other intermediary currencies.
The proposal was made by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, during a meeting with a Mastercard delegation in Abuja on Tuesday, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to strengthen intra-African trade and financial integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Oyedele said Africa has an opportunity to transform its payment ecosystem by creating a system that enables direct settlements between local currencies across the continent, eliminating the multiple conversions that currently increase transaction costs for businesses and consumers.
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At present, most cross-border card transactions within Africa are routed through third-party currencies, particularly the U.S. dollar. For instance, a transaction initiated by a Nigerian cardholder in Ghana is typically converted from Ghanaian cedis to U.S. dollars before being converted into naira, resulting in additional costs and exchange rate exposures.
Speaking during the engagement, the minister urged Mastercard to support the creation of a payment card that would allow seamless transactions between African currencies.
“We hope that, for example, we have a payment card that you can use to pay from naira to Kenyan shillings, to South African rand, without a third currency. And we know you can make it possible,” Oyedele said.
According to him, removing intermediary currencies from cross-border transactions would improve efficiency, reduce costs and deepen economic integration among African countries.
The minister also called on Mastercard to take a leading role in expanding access to credit cards in Nigeria, noting that consumer credit penetration remains low despite the growth of the country’s financial services sector.
“Based on my own personal experience, one of the areas where we hope you will take the lead is just making credit cards available to Nigerians. It is difficult, even for someone at my level, to get a credit card,” he stated.
Oyedele acknowledged the rapid growth of Nigeria’s fintech industry but stressed that there remains significant potential for expansion.
He noted that Nigeria is home to five of Africa’s nine fintech unicorns, underscoring the country’s growing influence in the continent’s digital finance ecosystem.
“Our fintech sector is quite developed, but we know that we can do much better. We can be much bigger,” he said.
“It is interesting to know that Africa has nine unicorns, and five of them are in Nigeria. So we know that the possibilities are even bigger.”
The minister assured investors and financial technology companies of the government’s commitment to maintaining a stable and supportive business environment through policy consistency and regulatory reforms.
“We welcome you to Nigeria. We want you to do more, and we are willing, from the government’s side, to work with you,” he added.
The proposal comes as Africa’s cross-border payments market is projected to witness substantial growth over the next decade. Industry estimates indicate that the sector could expand from $329 billion in 2025 to approximately $1 trillion by 2035, driven by increased fintech adoption, mobile money penetration, expanding intra-African trade and the implementation of AfCFTA.
Despite the growth potential, stakeholders say fragmented financial systems, multiple currency conversions, high transaction costs and settlement inefficiencies continue to hinder cross-border payments across the continent.
Analysts believe that direct settlement mechanisms between African currencies could significantly reduce transaction costs, improve payment efficiency and accelerate economic integration, supporting the broader objective of creating a more connected African economy.
