The new system allows a buyer in one African country to make a payment in his or her national currency and the seller in another country receives payment in their local currency. Its commercial launch came after a successful pilot in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) region. The WAMZ is a West-African economic and integration body with six countries, including Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In order to enable instant payments across African borders in local currency, a document available online indicates that the new system supports three core processes: instant payment, pre-funding and net settlement. The Pan-African Payments and Settlement System ensures prompt settlement within 24 hours. Net settlement across all participating central banks occurs at the same time, 11.00 UTC each day.
Due to the speed of the real-time payment process, it is noted, the system needs to guarantee that funds are available to complete the originator’s transaction before effecting the movement of debits and credits between participants’ accounts. Participants must, therefore, agree to a pre-funding arrangement.
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