We talk a lot about physical trade barriers tariffs, ports, infrastructure, but there’s another cost that eats away at Africa’s trade quietly: the way we move money.

Right now, if a trader in Lagos wants to pay a supplier in Nairobi, the payment often leaves the continent first, gets exchanged into dollars in New York or London, and then comes back to Africa. Every hop adds fees, delays, and unnecessary friction. The African Export-Import Bank estimates that these extra costs drain over $5 billion annually, money that could have stayed with traders, SMEs, and their customers.

This isn’t about trade grinding to a halt because of payments. Goods still move. But every additional fee cuts into already thin margins, making intra-African trade less attractive than it should be. In some cases, it’s cheaper to send money to Europe than to the next African country. That is the quiet tax on our trade.

This is why Pan-African Payment & Settlement System - PAPSS created by, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat matters. For the first time, African businesses can settle payments directly in local currencies, without the detour through the dollar. No more expensive correspondent banking fees. No more days lost waiting for funds to clear. A transaction that used to take two or three days can now happen in under a minute.

And adoption is growing. By early 2025, PAPSS connected 13 central banks and over 120 commercial banks, covering much of the continent’s major trade corridors. For traders, that means better cash flow, faster turnover, and lower costs, all of which make it easier to trust and grow intra-African trade.

AfCFTA has given us the framework for a single African market. But the market only works if money moves as freely as the goods it pays for. PAPSS isn’t just infrastructure; it’s what makes AfCFTA real for businesses on the ground.

The cost of not getting this right is billions lost every year. The payoff of fixing it? A continent trading confidently with itself.

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Written by Tijesunimi Falade