The Nigerian Exchange Limited on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System for the facilitation of transactions on securities trading across the continent.
Under the MoU, PAPSS will facilitate the payment and settlement of transactions in countries of operation, starting with cross-border transactions between the NGX and the Ghana Stock Exchange, according to Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga, chairman of the NGX Group Limited.
He said the system will facilitate the ongoing efforts to integrate African capital markets through the African Exchange Limited Project.
PAPSS, developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), is a cross-border financial infrastructure designed to enable payments across the African continent.
PAPSS is designed to enable payments for intra-African trades in local currencies using central banks as settlement agents. The MoU is designed to facilitate efficient and seamless cross-border payments across Africa’s capital markets.
“This is a home-grown solution to the issue of fragmented and shallow capital markets and inefficient payment systems that have held down the capital market formation and development in the continent,” he noted.