The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) operated by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BUNA, the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).
“The MoU with BUNA is another important step that PAPSS has taken after its commercial launch. The Arab World and Africa have a long history of trade relations and the PAPSS-BUNA partnership will further facilitate the growth of trade between the two regions,” says Benedict Oramah, Chairperson of PAPSS Management Board
“The integration will provide banks across Africa and the Arab World with a seamless and one-stop center to help their clients transfer value to their counterparts in either region. As chairperson of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB), I am very proud of this outcome and thank the Arab Monetary Fund, Badea and the Islamic Trade Finance Company (ITFC) for their strong partnership,” he added.
Integration among different payment systems, as the foundation for enhancing cross-border payments, requires technical process and business system compatibility so that end users can seamlessly transact with each other across systems. This collaboration between PAPSS and BUNA payment systems lays the foundation for the interoperability. The participants will be in a position to make fast, secure and affordable transactions in their local currencies between the African continent and the Arab region.
PAPSS is aggressively expanding its footprints across Africa with 8 central banks, 6 switches and about 25 of the largest commercial banks on the continent. PAPSS has signed very significant strategic relationships with other key institutions.
Banks that join PAPSS enable their customers to trade within Africa since they have access to tens of thousands of end-users already connected across the platform’s growing community of financial institutions. Central banks joining the PAPSS infrastructure extends the collective reach of the payment system to millions more, with the resultant positive impact on intra-African Trade.
The collaboration between PAPSS and Buna will further these benefits to the Buna network and vice versa. Together, they seek to create the foundational support for the innovation of trade and payment solutions which will significantly enhance the economy of both regions.
PAPSS also plans to collaborate with other regional and continental cross border payments systems to extend its range beyond the African borders to support the growth of trade and investments with the African continent.
“We highlight the important role of Afreximbank and the AMF in leading strategic initiatives that can strengthen the economic ties between the Arab region and the African continent and support the global efforts to promote financial inclusion and improve access to appropriate financial services, says Dr. Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, Director General Arab Monetary Fund .
“ Buna’s success to establish interoperability with regional market infrastructure like PAPSS is another key milestone in Buna’s continuous efforts to expand its regional and global network and increase the value it brings to its participants,” he reiterated
