Gabriel Ologunwa, Global Expansions and Payment Partnerships Lead for Anglophone West Africa at Flutterwave, told the Nigeria Fintech Forum that Africa is nearer than many realise to overcoming long-standing barriers to cross-border commerce. Speaking on a panel focused on seamless regional payments, Ologunwa said fragmented systems, foreign exchange constraints and regulatory divergence have historically slowed Trade, but advances in payments technology and innovations such as stablecoins are making transactions faster, cheaper and more efficient.
“We’re closer than many people think,” Ologunwa said. “The technology already exists, and the momentum is here. If we continue to see stronger regulatory coordination alongside sustained private sector innovation, Africa is well within reach of delivering a truly real-time, low-cost cross-border payments network over the next few years.”
He cited the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, the African Continental Free Trade Area Digital Trade Protocol and the adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard as critical building blocks for a more connected ecosystem. Lasting progress, he stressed, will depend on deeper collaboration among regulators, payment providers and the private sector to achieve greater interoperability and regulatory alignment across markets.
Beyond accepting payments, Ologunwa noted that small and medium-sized enterprises need a unified financial infrastructure that combines collections, payouts, foreign exchange, compliance and reconciliation into a single experience. Flutterwave is addressing that complexity by offering businesses one platform to operate and grow across multiple African countries.
Making cross-border commerce as straightforward for an SME trading between Nigeria and Kenya as it is for a multinational corporation remains one of the industry’s biggest opportunities, he added. Stronger digital infrastructure and continued collaboration will be essential to unlocking Africa’s next phase of economic growth.
