The Federal Government has pushed for the development of a cross-border payment card that would allow African currencies to be traded directly against one another, eliminating the need for conversion through the US dollar or any other intermediary currency.
Nigeria's Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, **Taiwo Oyedele**, made the proposal on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving a delegation from Mastercard, emphasising the need for more efficient payment infrastructure to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Under the current system, cross-border card transactions within Africa are routed through intermediary currencies, most often the US dollar. This forces multiple conversions and adds extra transaction costs. Oyedele illustrated the problem with a practical example: when a Nigerian cardholder makes a purchase in Ghana, the payment is typically converted from Ghanaian cedis to US dollars and then converted again into naira at prevailing exchange rates.
"We hope that, for example, we have a payment card that you can use to pay from naira to Kenyan shillings, to South African rand, without a third currency. And we know you can make it possible," Oyedele told the Mastercard team.
The minister also urged Mastercard to take a leading role in expanding access to credit cards in Nigeria. He noted that consumer credit remains difficult to obtain even for high-income earners and senior government officials. "Based on my own personal experience, one of the areas where we hope you will take the lead is just making credit cards available to Nigerians. It is difficult, even for someone at my level, to get a credit card," he said.
Oyedele acknowledged progress made by Nigeria's fintech sector, noting that Nigeria is home to five of Africa's nine fintech unicorns. "Our fintech sector is quite developed, but we know that we can do much better. We can be much bigger," he said, adding that the government remains committed to creating a stable and investor-friendly environment through policy consistency and regulatory support.
The call for direct currency settlement comes as Africa's cross-border payments industry is projected to expand significantly. According to a report by venture capital firm Oui Capital, the continent's cross-border payments market is expected to grow from **$329 billion** in 2025 to approximately **$1 trillion** by 2035, representing a compound annual growth rate of 12%.
The projected growth is expected to be driven by increasing fintech adoption, rising mobile money penetration, expanding intra-African trade, and the implementation of AfCFTA. However, the report notes that cross-border payments across Africa remain hampered by fragmented financial systems, multiple currency conversions, high transaction costs, and settlement inefficiencies.
Industry stakeholders believe that direct settlement mechanisms between African currencies could significantly reduce these frictions, lower costs for businesses and consumers, and accelerate economic integration across the continent.
