Central Bank of Nigeria's Guidelines on the Operations of Pan African Payment Settlement Systems (PAPSS) in Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”), in a bid to continuously make efforts to improve the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria and also to facilitate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”), on October 11, 2021 issued the Guidelines on the Operations of Pan African Payment Settlement System (“PAPSS”) in Nigeria (the “Guidelines”).

Prior to the introduction of PAPSS, settlement of cross-border transactions between Nigeria and West African countries, were via non-African correspondent banks.  

The African Export-Import Bank (“AfriExim”), in partnership with the West African Monetary Institute, introduced the PAPSS, as a pilot within the West African region before extending same to other parts of Africa. The PAPSS will support the initiation of cross-border retail payments in local currencies between the sender and the beneficiary within West Africa and is expected to provide faster settlement and payment of a cross-border transaction at a reduced cost.