Visa, the global payments network, has partnered with African payments processor Onafriq and mobile money giant M-Pesa Africa to pilot a new system for settling cross-border transactions using stablecoins. The initiative, announced on July 9, 2026, will test the use of Circle's USDC stablecoin to facilitate remittances and other payments between mobile money wallets in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.
The pilot program will initially connect M-Pesa wallets in Kenya with mobile money users in Ghana and Nigeria through Onafriq's extensive payments network, which spans over 40 African countries. According to a joint statement, the project aims to demonstrate how blockchain-based digital currencies can improve the speed and reduce the cost of moving money across borders in Africa, a continent where traditional remittance corridors are often slow and expensive.
"This collaboration explores how stablecoins, as a digital representation of value, can be used to facilitate faster, more cost-effective settlement of cross-border transactions," said Catherine Gu, Visa's Head of Central Bank Digital Currencies and Digital Assets. The move represents a significant step for Visa, which has been exploring digital currency applications for several years, into the practical use of stablecoins for settlement in a major emerging market.
For Onafriq, formerly known as MFS Africa before a rebrand in late 2023, the pilot leverages its position as one of the continent's largest digital payments hubs. The company's network connects over 500 million mobile money wallets and bank accounts across Africa. Daere O. Akobo, Onafriq's Chief Commercial Officer, stated that the initiative is "about building the infrastructure for the future of money movement in Africa." He added that integrating stablecoin settlement could "unlock new efficiencies" in a market where intra-African payments have historically faced friction.
The involvement of M-Pesa Africa, the continent's most widely used mobile money service with tens of millions of active users, provides the pilot with a substantial real-world testing ground. M-Pesa, operated by Vodafone and Safaricom, has been instrumental in driving financial inclusion in East Africa but has faced challenges in enabling seamless cross-border transfers with other mobile money ecosystems. This pilot could address a key pain point for its vast user base.
The choice of USDC, a dollar-denominated stablecoin issued by Circle and regulated in the United States, is seen as an attempt to mitigate the volatility concerns associated with many cryptocurrencies. By using a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, the partners aim to provide a predictable medium of exchange for settlement, reducing the foreign exchange risk for operators in the payment chain. The pilot will not involve end-users directly transacting in USDC; instead, the stablecoin will be used in the backend settlement between the financial institutions.
This initiative arrives as several African central banks, including those in Nigeria and Ghana, are developing or have launched their own central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The pilot by Visa, Onafriq and M-Pesa could offer a complementary, private-sector-led model for cross-border payments, potentially operating alongside future national CBDC systems. Regulators in the involved countries are reportedly engaged with the project to ensure compliance with existing financial rules.
If successful, the partners indicated they plan to expand the stablecoin settlement model to more corridors and payment types across Africa. The outcome of this test will be closely watched by other global payments firms, African fintechs, and regulators as they navigate the evolving landscape of digital assets and their application in improving financial connectivity across the continent.