Crossmint, a US-based enterprise crypto infrastructure provider, and Paga, a Nigerian payments company, have announced a partnership to build a bi-directional payment bridge using USDC stablecoins to connect Africa with global markets. The initiative, announced on June 12, 2026, is designed to enable faster and more cost-effective cross-border transactions for remittances and commerce by leveraging the USDC stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar.

The bridge will allow users to convert local fiat currencies into USDC and vice versa, facilitating transfers between Africa and international markets. Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga, stated that the partnership aims to reduce the friction and high costs associated with traditional cross-border payments. "By integrating stablecoins into our platform, we can offer our users a more efficient way to send and receive money across borders," Oviosu said. Paga, which operates primarily in Nigeria and Ethiopia, provides mobile money and payment services to millions of customers.

This move comes amid a broader push within the African fintech sector to harness blockchain and stablecoin technology to improve financial infrastructure. High remittance costs and currency volatility remain significant challenges for the continent, where mobile money penetration is deep but cross-border systems are often fragmented. The partnership between Crossmint and Paga seeks to address these issues by creating a direct on-ramp and off-ramp between local currencies and a globally recognized digital asset.

Separately, other fintech firms are also advancing cross-border payment solutions. On the same day, payments orchestration platform Yuno announced a partnership with Onafriq, a pan-African digital payments network. That collaboration is focused on giving global merchants access to a wider range of local African payment methods, including mobile money and bank transfers, through a single integration. While not involving stablecoins, the Yuno-Onafriq deal highlights the parallel industry effort to simplify and expand payment rails into and within Africa.

In a related development, Nigerian payments infrastructure company Kora announced on June 11, 2026, that it has joined the International Air Transport Association's payment network. This integration will allow Kora to facilitate settlement and payment processing for airlines operating across Africa, tackling another complex cross-border commercial flow. Meanwhile, another major African fintech, Flutterwave, has publicly outlined its own ambitions to build a stablecoin-powered payment network for the continent, indicating a growing strategic focus on digital assets among leading players.

The Crossmint-Paga bridge represents a specific technical implementation within this trend, focusing on the USDC stablecoin. Its success will depend on regulatory acceptance in key markets and the ability to ensure seamless conversion between digital and traditional money. As African fintech companies continue to explore blockchain-based solutions, partnerships with global infrastructure providers like Crossmint are becoming a common pathway to bridge local scale with international liquidity and technological expertise.