Financial experts during the Inclusive FinTech Forum in Kigali, Rwanda stressed the critical requirement of making bank accounts and mobile wallets in Africa interoperate effectively. The program seeks solutions for the elevated costs of transferring money across African borders.
According to Nshuti Mbabazi who leads the Better Than Cash Alliance the primary issue arises from differences between mobile money and more seamless payment methods which include international platforms such as MasterCard or Visa. She explained that remittance payments between Africans result in elevated costs along with reduced trading efficiency.
MVend CEO Bobson Rugambwa explained the situation by saying that numerous intra-African transactions currently depend on foreign systems which create operational problems and drive up processing expenses. Financial institutions struggle to reach interoperable solutions because of requirements to store customer data inside each local market through data localization rules.
Dr. Talkmore Chidede presented the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol to potential business solutions as Senior Digital Trade Expert at the AfCFTA Secretariat. The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol works to solve interoperability issues by enabling borderless business operations throughout Africa without data storage requirements per country thus enabling simpler cross-border deals.
The experts recognize establishing one payment network across African financial platforms as a fundamental requirement. The integration would produce two major outcomes: lower transaction expenses and heightened financial inclusion and enhanced economic development on the continent.
