Ethiopia has officially joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), allowing domestic financial institutions to integrate into the cross-border payment platform and conduct direct transactions with participating institutions across the continent. The development was jointly announced in Addis Ababa by Eyob Tekalign, Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), and Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer of PAPSS, during a press conference at the Ethiopia Finance Forum.
Developed under the auspices of Afreximbank, the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, PAPSS aims to streamline intra-African commercial transactions by enabling cross-border payments in local currencies. Ethiopia joining the network enables local banks and financial bodies to link directly to the infrastructure, with commercial operational access depending on the technical execution and system readiness of individual participating entities.
Alongside the integration announcement, organisers revealed that Addis Ababa will host the second edition of COWRY 2026, Africa payment conference, scheduled for 26 to 27 November at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel. Operating under the theme “Scaling Africa Sovereign Payments: From Continental Connectivity to Global Integration,” the summit is projected to draw over 1,000 delegates, including leaders from banking, technology, payments and regulatory sectors, to discuss the expansion of regional financial architecture.
