The President of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association of Nigeria (AOPAN), Dr. Alexander Nwuba, has called for the development of seamless cross-border payment systems to support the growth of intra-African tourism and make multi-country travel packages more practical.
Nwuba, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Syttec and Managing Partner of ScaleGate Africa, made the call while presenting a paper titled “Borderless Africa: Solving the Trans-Border Payment Gap in African Tourism” at the 22nd Akwaaba African Travel Market held recently in Lagos.
He said Africa had made progress in facilitating movement across borders through visa reforms, but that payment difficulties remained a major obstacle for travellers moving between African countries.
According to him, the problem becomes more apparent when tourists attempt to pay for everyday services such as transportation, accommodation, food and souvenirs outside their home countries.
He noted that a traveller could successfully obtain a visa, fly to another African country and still encounter difficulties when attempting to use a naira-denominated bank card to pay for services or withdraw local currency.
Nwuba said the situation often forced travellers to rely on cash, exposing them to foreign exchange charges, withdrawal fees and exchange-rate mark-ups, while also leaving them with unused foreign currencies when they return home.
He argued that the payment challenge could undermine the vision behind regional tourism initiatives, particularly the development of multi-country travel packages ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The AOPAN president said a tourist package combining flights from Lagos, a safari experience in Nairobi and football matches in East Africa should ideally function as “one seamless African trip”, rather than requiring travellers to navigate multiple currencies and payment systems.
Payment Gap Beyond Visa-Free Travel
Nwuba observed that the debate on intra-African travel had traditionally focused on visa restrictions, noting that payment infrastructure had received comparatively less attention.
He said the continent’s multiple currencies and fragmented financial systems continued to make cross-border transactions more expensive and cumbersome.
According to him, international card restrictions, spending limits, multiple currency conversions and withdrawal charges could significantly increase the cost of travelling across African countries.
He cited the example of converting naira to dollars and subsequently into a destination country’s currency, saying the process could result in avoidable costs for travellers.
Nwuba said the challenge was structural rather than a reflection of the inability of banks to provide solutions, pointing to Africa’s numerous currencies, regulatory jurisdictions and dependence on correspondent banking arrangements for international settlement.
He therefore advocated payment infrastructure that would allow travellers to move with their local currency, convert funds at the point of spending and reconvert unused balances when they return home.
Stablecoins, Digital Payments as Possible Solution
The paper examined the potential role of stablecoins and digital payment infrastructure in addressing the challenge, while distinguishing stablecoins from highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Nwuba proposed a payment model in which local currencies could be converted into stable digital value and then exchanged into the destination currency when payment was required.
He identified cNGN, USDT, USDC and a proposed WhiteBIT naira product as examples of stable-value instruments that could form part of such a payment architecture, subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
He also highlighted the potential roles of WhiteBIT, Oxiwallet and Breez in a proposed payment ecosystem, with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) providing the underlying settlement infrastructure.
The presentation envisaged a system where travellers would be able to pay for flights, hotels, transportation, experiences, souvenirs and other services through a single payment ecosystem without having to repeatedly exchange currencies.
Nwuba said the same infrastructure could also support wider cross-border commerce by enabling businesses to settle transactions while maintaining documentation for compliance, verification and financing.
PAPSS at the Centre of Regional Settlement
He described PAPSS as an important component of the emerging African payment ecosystem, noting its role in facilitating cross-border payments in African currencies.
According to the presentation, PAPSS is backed by Afreximbank, the African Union and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Nwuba said stronger integration between payment platforms, banks, digital wallets and regulatory systems could help reduce the friction associated with cross-border transactions and complement efforts to facilitate movement of people and goods across the continent.
He stressed that solving the payment problem should not be limited to tourists, arguing that the same infrastructure could support African businesses involved in regional trade.
Opportunity for African Youths
Beyond tourism and payments, Nwuba identified the emerging digital payment ecosystem as an opportunity for young Africans to develop businesses and technological solutions for the continent’s cross-border economy.
Through ScaleGate Africa, he said, young entrepreneurs could be trained, incubated and connected to markets, capital and infrastructure required to develop businesses around emerging digital and financial technologies.
He urged airlines, hotels, destination management companies, banks, insurers and other stakeholders in the travel ecosystem to participate in building practical payment solutions for cross-border tourism.
Nwuba said the objective should be to create an African travel experience in which payment is as seamless as movement across borders.
He concluded that while visa reforms were gradually opening Africa’s borders to travellers, payment systems needed to evolve alongside them if the continent’s ambition of a more integrated tourism market was to be fully realised.