StableCoin Emittent Circle has teamed up with Onafriq, the biggest payment gateway in Africa, to be able to reduce the high costs for cross-border payments on your entire continent with the assistance of USDC.
According to a press release, which was shared with cointelegraph, Circle goals to regulate the USDC (USDC) settlements inside AFRISQ's large network, which connects over 500 item pockets and 200 million bank accounts in greater than 40 countries.
“By integrating USDC, we wish to simplify financial transactions for institutions and individuals, reduce costs and strengthen trust,” said Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of Onafriq,.
He added that the combination of USDC simplifies transactions and promotes trust in digital financial services.
Currently, over 80% of the intra-African transactions by correspondent banks are led outside the continent and enclosed in foreign currency equivalent to the US dollar or euro. This results in fees of around 5 billion US dollars annually.
Africa has great potential for stable coins
Miriam Kiwan, the Vice President at Circle, who’s chargeable for the Middle East and Africa, said that Africa has an infinite potential for digital innovations, especially when introducing stable coins for cross -border payments.
“Together we wish to vary how money moves across borders and offer protected and transparent digital payment rails that improve economic strengthening and connectivity,” said Kiwan.
Increasing stable coin use around the globe. Source: StableCoins: The Emerging Market Story 2024
By October 2024, StableCoin transactions, based on Chainalysis, made up about 43% of the whole transaction volume of the African region south of the Sahara.
At that point, Eric Jardine, cybercrime research within the chain, led the rise within the StableCoin transaction volume within the region with currency devaluation.
Nigerian Naira was the worst African currency, which was written off by over 100% in 2024.
Circle urges global expansion
The cooperation can be in the midst of the worldwide strategy of Circle to expand the USDC introduction.
On April 21, 2025, Circle began the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a consortium of economic institutions that aim to rationalize the worldwide fund movement and billing using stable coins.
The network already includes over 20 partners equivalent to World Remit, Yellow Card and Fireblocks with advisory support from large banks equivalent to Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank.
The initiative is meant to tackle inefficiencies with traditional cross -border payments. CPN will support various applications, including transfers, salary statements, financial and invoice payments.
On April 29, the corporate also received a fundamental approval of the Financial Service Authority of the Global Market from Abu Dhabi.
Approval enables Circle to work as a regulated financial service provider within the United Arab Emirates.
