Afreximbank, PAPSS partner with CARICOM Central Banks for cross-border payment 

PAPSS serves as a financial market infrastructure that enables instant, cross-border payments in local currencies across African markets.

In a statement, Afreximbank announced that the parties had successfully conducted a groundbreaking Proof of Concept (PoC) for the CARICOM Payment and Settlement System (CAPSS), which is designed to replicate the PAPSS model.

CAPSS will facilitate real-time, local currency transactions across the CARICOM region.

“From February 19-21, 2025, at the Central Bank of The Bahamas, representatives from the central banks of The Bahamas, Barbados, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago, along with Afreximbank, PAPSS, and Montran Corporation, successfully tested CAPSS’s ability to process instant cross-border payments without intermediaries,” the statement from Afreximbank read.

The key benefits highlighted include real-time local currency transactions within CARICOM, secured Central Bank-backed settlements, and successful live tests between The Bahamas and Barbados. CAPSS aims to foster financial integration, reduce costs, and connect seamlessly to PAPSS in Africa.

Last month, Nigeria and Afreximbank signed an agreement to host the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM) in June.

The upcoming event is expected to draw between 5,000 and 6,000 delegates from across Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

The signing ceremony took place in Abuja, with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announcing that President Bola Tinubu had approved the hosting of the event.

One of Afreximbank’s key initiatives is the African Quality Assurance Centre, which was developed to ensure Nigerian goods meet global trade standards. The bank has also developed the Africa Trade Centre in Abuja, set to be inaugurated on April 10.