NAIROBI, Kenya, September 30 – Kenya will now trade freely with other African member states of the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), Trade and Investment Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has revealed.
This comes after the country signed on as a signatory to the monetary body, a move that could prevent the dollar from being used as a medium of payment within African countries.
The move is expected to ease trade and financial transactions between Kenya and PAPSS signatories.
Through a post shared on his X app account, Kuria asserted that Kenyan companies will now be able to conduct business transactions without having to use external currencies as a medium of exchange.
“I am pleased to announce that the Central Bank of Kenya has signed the instruments that will ultimately allow Kenya to join the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System. This means that Kenyan companies can use our local currencies to trade with their counterparts in other African member states, which is a great addition to Africa. A major boost for the Continental Free Trade Area," Kuria wrote in the post.
President William Ruto has previously criticized over-reliance on the dollar as a medium of trade payments, a factor he has repeatedly said is unfair to African countries.
The PAPPS system enables traders in signatory countries to instruct local banks to pay suppliers in different countries using local currencies.
The bank then sends instructions to PAPPS to immediately settle the payment through the supplier's local bank in the currency of its jurisdiction.
PAPPS is authorized to conduct verification checks before passing instructions to the receiving bank.
