Nigeria–Ghana payments go Naira-first as Onafriq, PAPSS pilot instant wallet transfers

Nigeria has begun piloting its first wallet-based outbound cross-border payment corridor that allows users to send money instantly to Ghana in Naira, a move aimed at cutting reliance on hard currencies and easing trade frictions for small businesses across West Africa.

The pilot, approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is being rolled out by Onafriq Nigeria Payments Ltd in partnership with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a continental payments platform backed by African central banks.

The six-month pilot, which starts on December 1, allows individuals, merchants and traders in Nigeria to make payments directly to recipients in Ghana without converting funds into dollars or other foreign currencies.

The initiative comes as Nigeria grapples with foreign exchange shortages and currency volatility, which have increased the cost of cross-border trade and strained small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

By settling transactions in local currencies, the new payment corridor is expected to lower transaction costs, reduce settlement times and improve liquidity for businesses operating across the Nigeria–Ghana trade route.

SMEs dominate informal and semi-formal trade between the two countries, particularly in sectors such as food, textiles and consumer goods. Many of these traders rely on cash, intermediaries or informal channels to move money across borders, exposing them to high fees and settlement delays. The new service enables instant wallet-to-wallet payments, offering a formal alternative designed to support trade expansion.

The partnership also advances the operational goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to promote tariff-free trade among 54 member states but has struggled with weak payment infrastructure and fragmented financial systems. While AfCFTA has lowered tariff barriers, cross-border payments across Africa remain slow, costly and heavily dependent on foreign correspondent banks.

Under the arrangement, Onafriq provides the mobile money infrastructure, connecting an ecosystem of more than one billion mobile wallets across the continent. PAPSS, launched by Afreximbank in collaboration with African central banks, brings a network of over 160 commercial banks representing more than 400 million bank accounts across 19 African countries.

The collaboration effectively links Africa’s bank-led and mobile-led payment markets, which have historically operated in siloes and limited cross-border interoperability. Combined, the two systems cover more than 1.5 billion wallets and accounts, enabling payments between banks and mobile money operators at scale.

Mxolisi Msutwana, managing director, Anglophone West Africa, said, “Our work with PAPSS shows what collaboration at scale can unlock, seamless, secure connections between banking systems and mobile money ecosystems. This is how we open bi-directional trade corridors, reduce costs for businesses, and give African enterprises the rails they need to trade with confidence in their own currencies. The vision is continental, but it starts with practical steps like this one.”

PAPSS said the pilot is designed to change how businesses and individuals perceive borders within Africa’s payments landscape.

Ositadimma Ugwu, chief information officer, PAPSS, added, “Too often, African businesses and individuals see borders as roadblocks instead of opportunities. With this step, we’re challenging that mindset, giving Nigerians the ability to send value next door with the same ease as sending a text message. Our vision is simple: make Africa’s borders invisible to payments. This pilot makes that a reality, moving us closer to a continent where payments don’t pause at the border.”

The Nigeria-to-Ghana outbound corridor builds on an earlier Ghana-to-Nigeria instant payments service launched by Onafriq and PAPSS earlier this year, creating a bi-directional flow between the two largest mobile money and bank markets in West Africa.

Payments experts say local-currency settlement systems such as PAPSS could play a critical role in reducing Africa’s dependence on the U.S. dollar for intra-regional trade, which currently accounts for less than 20 percent of the continent’s total trade volume. Most African cross-border payments are still routed through correspondent banks outside the continent, increasing costs and settlement times.

If successful, the pilot could be expanded to additional African markets, providing a template for other intra-African trade corridors. For policymakers, the project is being closely watched as a test case for how payment infrastructure can support trade integration, currency stability and economic growth under AfCFTA.

While the pilot remains limited to Nigeria and Ghana for now, Onafriq and PAPSS said the broader objective is to make cross-border payments across Africa as simple and affordable as domestic transactions, removing one of the biggest structural barriers to continental trade.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.

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