As Africans on the continent commemorate African Union Day, there is a strong call to business and individuals to embrace the Pan African Payment and Settlement Systems as the platform of choice for all payments within the continent.

Executive Head, Retail and Commercial Banking at Prudential Bank, Ebow Quayson, who made the call in an interview in Accra said the platform since its introduction has been instrumental in enabling business growth and intra-African trade and as Africans are celebrating a unique day it is important to remind all to accept PAPSS as the continent’s premier payment and settlement platform.

“PAPSS has come to stay. It is made for Africans, by Africans. It is revolutionary in shaping intra African trade helping countries to fulfil business transactions with ease and speed. It is thus crucial for all countries on the continent to sign onto the platform to accelerate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agenda”, he said.

He noted that since the inception of PAPSS, African trade has seen significant improvement with Bank’s making transactions across the continent in droves. PAPSS has thus become a game changer.

“On 6th March 1957 during Ghana's Independence Day, the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah mad his famous speech – ‘The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it's tied to the total liberation of the African continent’. This statement is still of great relevance today as Africa cannot claim full economic independence when our major trade partners are all outside the continent.

“PAPSS is a game changer for us. With a growing network of participating countries, the stage is set to expand trade among African countries. It is important to get all countries on the continent connected on the platform. Prudential Bank is a pioneer bank on the platform, and we know how it has helped customers achieve success in African trade which was a major challenge in the past”, he said.

Post-colonial independence on the African continent era has had trade policies aimed at diversifying agricultural production, establishing manufacturing bases, and fostering intra-African trade, particularly through regional organisations including ECOWAS and the AU.

The African Union (AU) has played a key role in promoting economic cooperation and integration, including the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which seeks to create the platform for Africans to trade among themselves freely and effectively.

PAPSS has become the enabler. 12 countries; Rwanda, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Kenya, Liberia, Ghana, Djibouti, Guinea, Zambia and Zimbabwe are currently live on PAPSS with 4 countries, Tunisia, Uganda, Egypt & Comoros at various stages of conclusion to join the platform.