The Federal Government has called for the development of a cross-border payment card that would enable transactions between African currencies without routing payments through the U.S. dollar or other intermediary currencies.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, made the proposal in Abuja on Tuesday during a meeting with a delegation from Mastercard, stressing the need to modernise Africa’s payment infrastructure under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Currently, most cross-border card payments within Africa are processed through third-party currencies, particularly the U.S. dollar, leading to multiple conversions, higher fees and delays in settlement.
For example, a transaction between Nigeria and Ghana typically involves converting naira to U.S. dollars before reconverting into Ghanaian cedis, increasing costs for consumers and businesses.
Oyedele said Africa’s financial system has the opportunity to bypass these inefficiencies by adopting direct currency-to-currency settlement mechanisms across the continent.
“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,” he said.
He explained that eliminating intermediary currencies would significantly reduce transaction costs, improve efficiency and strengthen economic integration across African markets.
The minister also urged Mastercard to take a leading role in expanding access to credit cards in Nigeria, noting that credit penetration remains low even among high-income earners.
“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,” Oyedele said.
He acknowledged the rapid growth of Nigeria’s fintech sector but noted that there is still substantial room for expansion and innovation.
According to him, Nigeria currently hosts five of Africa’s nine fintech unicorns, reflecting the country’s growing dominance in the continent’s digital financial ecosystem.
“Our fintech sector is quite developed, but we know that we can do much better. We can be much bigger,” he said.
“It is interesting to know that Africa has nine unicorns, and five of them are in Nigeria. So we know that the possibilities are even bigger.”
Oyedele assured investors and fintech operators of the government’s commitment to maintaining a stable and supportive regulatory environment that encourages innovation and investment.
“We welcome you to Nigeria. We want you to do more, and we are willing, from the government’s side, to work with you,” he added.
The proposal comes as Africa’s cross-border payments market continues to expand rapidly, driven by fintech adoption, mobile money penetration and the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
A report by venture capital firm Oui Capital projects that the market will grow from $329 billion in 2025 to about $1 trillion by 2035, representing a compound annual growth rate of 12 per cent.
However, despite this growth outlook, the sector remains constrained by fragmented financial systems, currency conversion bottlenecks and high transaction costs.
Industry experts say that enabling direct settlement between African currencies could significantly reduce friction in trade, lower costs for businesses and consumers, and accelerate regional economic integration.
The Federal Government’s proposal is seen as part of broader efforts to strengthen financial connectivity across Africa and build a more efficient, unified digital payment ecosystem.
