Rabat: Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, has joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to boost seamless intra-African trade and financial integration. With this move, Morocco becomes the 17th country of presence for PAPSS, reinforcing continental efforts under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to streamline cross-border payments.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, welcomed Bank Al-Maghrib’s entry, noting that Morocco’s participation reflects the growing momentum and confidence in PAPSS as a solution to Africa’s cross-border payment challenges. ‘With more countries joining, we are taking significant strides towards a truly unified African market, driving down transaction costs and empowering businesses and individuals across the continent,’ he said.
The development adds substantial economic weight to the network, given Morocco’s role as a strategic bridge between Africa and Europe and its well-developed banking sector. Currently, about 80 percent of Africa’s trade is conducted with partners outside the continent, largely due to payment inefficiencies that make extra-African trade more cost-effective than intra-African exchanges.
PAPSS, established by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat, aims to address these challenges through a centralised financial market infrastructure. The system facilitates real-time cross-border payments in local currencies, reducing reliance on US dollars or Euros, lowering risk, and promoting regional financial integration.
Morocco’s participation is expected to enhance trade, especially with West and Central African nations where Moroccan firms are expanding. The expansion of PAPSS comes as African leaders aim to increase intra-African trade from around 15 percent to 25 percent by 2030, with Morocco actively broadening its investments across banking, telecommunications, and agriculture sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Benedict Oramah, outgoing President of Afreximbank, has described PAPSS as ‘critical infrastructure’ for Africa’s economic transformation, likening its impact to that of payment systems in other rapidly developing regions. The growth of PAPSS reflects a wider push by African nations to reduce dependence on foreign currencies and external payment systems, a trend gaining urgency amid global financial disruptions and rising focus on economic resilience.