News
PAPSS Cowry to Benefit Manufacturers, SMEs
Manufacturers and small businesses are set to benefit from a new era of seamless cross-border payments, thanks to the launch of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System- PAPSS Cowry, a game-changing payment platform.
This cutting-edge platform, backed by Afreximbank, the AU and AfCFTA, and recently launched in Lagos, promises to increase efficiency, reduce costs and boost trade across the continent as it connects 160 banks across 19 countries and positions Africa for a bigger share of its $329 cross-border market.
The platform delivers 120-second local currency settlement, removing USD bottlenecks, cutting FX friction and strengthening the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) driven trade flows.
Mike Ogbalu, CEO of PAPSS, in his keynote address at the platform launch themed ‘Building an Interoperable and Sovereign Africa Payment Ecosystem for Trade and Economic Growth,’ explained that AfCFTA has provided a single market for the continent’s 1.9 billion people that needs a seamless cross-border payment platform to trade.
“We have created it as an ecosystem that will pack all of us together in a way that we are able to empower each other rather than compete,” he said.
“Create a centralised value that everybody can leverage without affecting the individual value proposition of all the entities that leverage this way,” he added.
He stated that the Pan-Africa payment rail has connected 19 countries and plans to expand to 40, adding that 160 leading commercial banks across the continent are connected to the platform.
“We are also now enabling fintech companies across the continent to be able to originate payments in one market and terminate them in another market,” he explained.
“PAPSS is that financial market infrastructure that allows for the processing of cross-border payments in local currencies and is able to do that in no more than 120 seconds,” he added.
He appreciated central banks across the continent for their support, saying that a governance infrastructure has been created to make sure the payment system continues to operate in the right way. He stressed that sovereign payments are critical for the continent’s survival.
Haytham EI Maayerigi, executive vice president – global trade bank, Afreximbank, stressed that African businesses still face real barriers, whose border payments remain slow, expensive, and impossible sometimes, with $5 billion lost yearly to third-currency routing.
He explained that the situation has made it difficult for small businesses to find trusted partners, affordable finance and adequate market information, noting that with AfCFTA advancing, it must be easy for firms to trade with each other.
He said Afrexim, which is a promoter of PAPSS, works daily to remove these obstacles. “Together with AfCTA and the African Union, we are building the institutional foundation of a truly integrated market, supporting a lot of the initiatives.”
“Through advisory, guarantees, certification and project preparation, we mobilise the capital that builds factories, logistic hubs, processing plants, energy systems, the backbone of African industrialisation.”
He stressed that capital alone will not deliver integration and that the African continental trade also needs a digital spine, a system that connects markets, trust, information, logistics, finance and payments.
Experts say Africa requires a better business environment to unleash its potential and drive intra-African trade. The experts noted that the PAPSS Cowry platform will help improve the ease of doing business across the continent.
Wamkele Mene, secretary general, AfCFTA Secretariat, described the platform as a key enabler of AfCFTA, giving its practical effect on the continent’s vision of a fully integrated African market.
“It operationalises financial sovereignty by enabling the seamless flow of funds needed to sustain the world’s largest free trade area, and by reducing the friction that has historically held back intra-Africa trade,” Mene said.
He noted that the continent has 42 currencies, which alone creates structural barriers, saying that when two African traders rely on a third-country currency to trade, the cost of doing business rises sharply.
“Our continent loses an estimated $5billion annually in currency conversion.” PAPSS addresses this bottleneck directly by enabling instant settlement in local currencies and reducing reliance on expensive corresponding banking corridors.”
Patience Okala, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office has urged African countries to stop exporting raw materials and instead focus on adding value to its natural resources if it is to fully harness the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
She stated this on Thursday at the Streamsowers & Köhn 20th Anniversary Business Forum, where she stressed that value addition and beneficiation are essential to Africa’s industrialisation and long-term economic growth.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, she said the AfCFTA goes beyond the elimination of tariffs, serving as a framework for industrialisation, value addition, and job creation across the continent.
“AfCFTA is not only about tariffs; it is also about value addition. Africa has to stop exporting raw materials. We need to add value and ensure that beneficiation is done on the continent,” she said.
Okala also said Africa’s economic transformation would depend on the effective implementation of the AfCFTA rather than on the signing of trade agreements alone.
“We have moved beyond negotiations. The success of AfCFTA will be measured by the extent to which businesses can access new markets, trade seamlessly across borders, and benefit from the opportunities created by the agreement,” she said.
She noted that Nigeria had intensified efforts to implement the agreement under the leadership of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, including the development of simplified AfCFTA guides in six languages to help businesses understand and take advantage of opportunities under the trade pact.
Okala called for stronger collaboration among governments, regulators, and the private sector to eliminate barriers to trade and investment and build a truly integrated African market.
“As we move from policy to implementation, our collective responsibility is to ensure that the opportunities created by AfCFTA become practical realities for businesses, particularly MSMEs, women-owned enterprises, and young entrepreneurs across the continent,” she said.
Cisco is exploring artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions to support smallholder farmers in Nigeria, as part of efforts to expand digital inclusion and technology adoption.
The initiative focuses on improving agricultural productivity through accessible, data-driven tools.
The move aligns with growing collaboration between Nigeria and the United States under the Commercial and Investment Partnership, which prioritises the digital economy, agriculture and infrastructure.
Speaking at the 2026 World Business Chicago, Brian Tippens, chief social impact and inclusion Officer at Cisco, said the company is assessing practical AI applications to help farmers combine local knowledge with data insights.
He said Cisco is exploring tools such as AI-enabled WhatsApp communities, geospatial mapping and weather intelligence to support day-to-day farming decisions.
The approach reflects a shift towards low-cost, mobile-first solutions suited to rural environments.
Tippens added that the Cisco Foundation is investing in early-stage startups developing technologies for local agricultural challenges.
Industry analysts note that AI adoption in emerging markets depends on locally relevant solutions, rather than large-scale enterprise deployments alone.
Beyond agriculture, Cisco plans to expand digital skills development in Nigeria through programmes such as the Cisco Networking Academy’s One Million Learners initiative.
Tippens said the programme also supports partnerships with organisations working with persons with disabilities, including those developing tools for people with visual impairments.
He added that Cisco’s social impact strategy aims to improve access to technology and promote inclusion, including in conflict-affected regions such as Borno State.
Cisco’s initiatives form part of broader efforts to link digital skills, connectivity and AI adoption to economic development in Nigeria.
Federal Government has launched a nationwide Artificial Intelligence (AI) capacity-building programme for teachers in Federal Unity Colleges, with about 11,700 educators set to acquire digital skills aimed at improving classroom instruction and preparing students for a technology-driven future.
The initiative advanced with the signing of the Terms of Reference (ToR) between the Federal Ministry of Education and ICEDT Consult Limited, paving the way for the nationwide implementation of the AI Teacher Capacity Development Programme.
The programme, to be implemented through the ministry’s Education Support Services Department, is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise Nigeria’s education sector, strengthen teacher professionalism and equip students with skills required in the digital economy under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Abuja, the Director of the Education Support Services Department, Gabriel Amudipe, described the initiative as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s teaching workforce and the future of education.
He said the nationwide rollout followed the successful completion of a pilot phase conducted in selected Federal Unity Colleges.
According to him, the implementation model developed by ICEDT Consult Limited will ensure effective coordination and quality delivery of the programme across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
Amudipe urged officials responsible for monitoring the project to ensure strict compliance with the implementation guidelines and maintain the standards achieved during the pilot phase.
“The ministry remains committed to supporting innovative initiatives that strengthen teacher professionalism, improve learning outcomes and promote the responsible integration of emerging technologies into education,” he said.
Earlier, the Deputy Director of the Education Support Services Department, Oladele Fapohunda, described the programme as a strategic intervention designed to deepen digital innovation across Federal Unity Colleges.
He stressed that collaboration among all stakeholders would be essential to achieving the objectives of the initiative nationwide.
Also speaking, the Head of Strategic Partnerships and Learning Scientist at ICEDT Consult Limited, Dr Abdulrahman Orosanya, said the Federal Government approved the national rollout after the successful pilot implementation in six Federal Unity Colleges representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to Orosanya, the pilot demonstrated the potential of Artificial Intelligence to improve lesson planning, classroom delivery, assessment methods and teachers’ productivity.
He said the nationwide implementation would strengthen teachers’ digital competencies, improve instructional delivery and support the government’s vision of building a technology-driven education system capable of producing globally competitive graduates equipped with 21st-century skills.
The ceremony ended with the formal signing of the Terms of Reference by officials of the Federal Ministry of Education and ICEDT Consult Limited, signalling the commencement of preparations for full implementation across all Federal Unity Colleges.
The ministry said the programme would directly train about 11,700 teachers, while thousands of students across the country’s Federal Unity Colleges are expected to benefit through improved classroom instruction, increased digital innovation and the responsible application of Artificial Intelligence in teaching and learning.
It reaffirmed its commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to modernise Nigeria’s education system, improve teacher quality and deliver inclusive, equitable and future-ready education nationwide.
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