Every day, people across Africa send money to support their families, pay suppliers, grow their businesses, or trade across borders. Too often, these transactions are still slower, more expensive, and more complicated than they should be.
The good news is that Africa is making significant progress. More countries are investing in instant payment systems, mobile money continues to expand, and regional payment infrastructure is growing. But building the infrastructure is only part of the journey. The next challenge is making it work seamlessly across borders.
To help move that conversation forward, AfricaNenda Foundation convened 31 CEOs and C-level leaders from 25 institutions across Africa’s payments ecosystem in Johannesburg April 23rd, 2026. The consultation brought together banks, mobile money providers, fintechs, payment infrastructure operators, and regional networks to discuss one important question:
What will it take to make cross-border retail payments work better across Africa?
One message emerged consistently throughout the discussions: Africa has made significant progress in building payment infrastructure. The next step is ensuring that policy, regulation, and implementation keep pace so that people and businesses can benefit from it.
The timing could not be more important. Africa’s cross-border payments market was valued at $329 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2035. Yet Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world’s most expensive remittance region, with the average cost of sending $200 still at 7.9%—more than double the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%.
The consultation resulted in An Open Letter on Enhancing Retail Digital Cross-Border Payments for Africa, issued on behalf of the participating private sector institutions. The letter reflects a shared commitment to working alongside policymakers, regulators, regional institutions, and development partners to help accelerate progress.
Rather than calling for new payment infrastructure, the Open Letter focuses on creating the policy and regulatory environment needed to unlock the full value of what is already being built. It highlights practical actions that can help improve coordination, strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors, and support the development of more efficient cross-border payment services.
As implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) continues to advance, improving cross-border payments will be critical to supporting trade, helping businesses grow, and making financial services more accessible to people across the continent.
The message from Johannesburg is simple: The infrastructure exists. The consensus exists. What Africa needs now is execution.
We invite policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, payment service providers, development partners, and the wider payments community to read the Open Letter and join the conversation on how to accelerate cross-border payments across Africa.
Read the full Open Letter here: https://africanenda.org/resource/open-letter-on-enhancing-retail-digital-cross-border-payments-for-africa/
