Digital payments in Africa are about to get an even wider reach, thanks to a new collaboration between Euronet Worldwide and the Africa Electronic Trade Group, or AeTrade.
Euronet announced the partnership on Wednesday (Nov. 9), saying the two firms are aiming to build a multi-channel, cross-border payments gateway, or switch, to reach Africa’s financial businesses and banks.
Michael J. Brown, president and CEO of Euronet, is optimistic on what this partnership means for the expansion of digital payments in Africa.
“This project, where our Ren payments technology will serve as the real-time payments switch across the African continent, provides one of the biggest milestones in this journey. Our past experience and successful track record in re-wiring the global financial infrastructure to better serve businesses and consumers ensures we have the expertise to deliver results for this crucial project and increase the financial participation of African citizens for generations to come,” he said.
The payments switch will become the financial foundation for 44 countries in the African Continental Free Trade Area, and will enable central banks, regional processors, financial institutions, mobile wallets and SMEs to easily complete transactions between each other in real time.
“Together with Euronet, we are building an interoperable payment system that serves as a backbone to support multiple services by the AeTrade Group including SME e-empowerment services, SME insurance services, e-government services, smart logistics and warehousing capabilities across Africa,” said Mulualem Syoum, CEO of AeTrade.
Read more: Pick n Pay Expands Crypto Payments in South Africa
Crypto payments are also gaining popularity in Africa, with South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay announcing on Nov. 1 that it’s expanding its accepted payment methods to include digital assets. The company is now allowing customers to pay in-store using the Lightning Network bitcoin payment protocol.
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