The Federal Government has called for the development of a cross-border payment card that would enable direct transactions between African currencies without the need for conversion through the United States dollar or other intermediary currencies.
The proposal was made by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, during a meeting with a Mastercard delegation in Abuja.
According to the minister, the initiative would support intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by reducing transaction costs and improving payment efficiency across the continent.
Currently, many cross-border card transactions within Africa are processed through intermediary currencies such as the U.S. dollar. This often results in multiple currency conversions and additional costs for consumers and businesses.
For example, a transaction between a Nigerian cardholder and a merchant in Ghana may first be converted from Ghanaian cedis to U.S. dollars before being converted again into naira.
Oyedele said Africa has an opportunity to modernise its payment ecosystem by enabling direct settlements between local currencies.
“We hope that, for example, we have a payment card that you can use to pay from naira to Kenyan shillings, to South African rand, without a third currency. And we know you can make it possible,” he told the Mastercard delegation.
He noted that removing intermediary currencies from cross-border transactions would improve efficiency, reduce costs and strengthen economic integration among African countries.
The minister also urged Mastercard to expand access to consumer credit in Nigeria, noting that obtaining credit cards remains difficult even for high-income earners and senior government officials.
“Based on my own personal experience, one of the areas where we hope you will take the lead is just making credit cards available to Nigerians. It is difficult, even for someone at my level, to get a credit card,” he said.
Oyedele acknowledged the progress made by Nigeria’s fintech industry but said there remains significant potential for further growth.
According to him, Nigeria hosts five of Africa’s nine fintech unicorns, highlighting the country’s growing role in the continent’s digital financial services sector.
“Our fintech sector is quite developed, but we know that we can do much better. We can be much bigger,” he said.
“It is interesting to know that Africa has nine unicorns, and five of them are in Nigeria. So we know that the possibilities are even bigger.”
The minister assured investors and technology companies of the government’s commitment to maintaining policy consistency and providing regulatory support to encourage innovation and investment in Nigeria’s digital economy.
“We welcome you to Nigeria. We want you to do more, and we are willing, from the government’s side, to work with you,” he added.
