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This blog is part of a series documenting our program’s journey to accelerate the development of inclusive payments systems for universal access to financial services in Africa. #IAmAfricaNenda

The Next Frontier of Africa’s Financial Integration

Africa stands at a turning point. The launch of the Instant Payment System (PI - SPI) by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is not just a technological milestone, it signals a new era in how value moves across the continent. A transaction can now cross borders in seconds, connecting communities and businesses once held back by the cost and slowness of money transfers. This acceleration could redefine Africa’s economic future.

Latest blogs

8 September 2025 / Dr. Robert Ochola, CEO, AfricaNenda Foundation and Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director/CEO, NIBSS

From the Continent, For the Continent: Building Homegrown Instant Payment Systems to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

Imported technologies might offer speed, but do not necessarily guarantee fit. Africa’s financial systems must account for our informal economies, our language diversity, our infrastructure gaps, and our shared ambition for equity. As Dr. Robert Ochola, CEO of AfricaNenda Foundation, reminded us: “Africa can build its own systems and make them world-class.”  

25 August 2025 / Jamelino Akogbeto, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at AfricaNenda Foundation

AfricaNenda & GIMAC: Building an inclusive payment ecosystem in Central Africa

"We want payments to be as simple and universal as a text message," explains Jamelino Akogbeto, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at AfricaNenda Foundation.

20 August 2025 / Sabine F. Mensah, Deputy CEO at AfricaNenda

Travel Notes — Converging Forces for Inclusion: Lessons from Pix Brazil

One of the highlights of GPW 2025 was the amazing learning opportunity it provided on Pix, Brazil’s inclusive instant payment system (IIPS)—also known as a fast payment system (FPS). When Pix was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020— as an open retail payment system available to all registered financial and payment service providers in Brazil—it enabled an almost immediate boom in digital payment adoption. The willingness of BCB’s team to share their journey with delegates at GPW 2025, including several African countries, delivered key lessons from which we can learn. As the Deputy Governor for Licensing and Resolution, Renato Gomes, stated during his opening speech: “Pix has transformed daily life in Brazil … and this success is the result of strong collaboration between the BCB team and all participating banks and fintechs.”