A Payments Bridge, Not a Single Currency

On 9 July 2026, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the central bank of the six-nation CEMAC zone of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad, officially joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, PAPSS (Afreximbank).

Afreximbank's announcement reported that with BEAC in, the PAPSS network covers 28 African countries, with more than 190 commercial banks and fintechs, 16 payment switches, and an extended network reaching over 250 additional financial institutions; actual payment access depends on participating institutions and supported routes. BEAC's participation opens a corridor into a market of more than 72 million people and, alongside a planned pilot with West Africa's BCEAO, points toward a single network spanning all regions (Afreximbank).

This is not a currency union. PAPSS moves payments, in local currencies, within seconds, without routing through third currencies, but exchange rates between African currencies still exist, and BEAC's membership itself will take work: the announcement says operationalization, including integrating CEMAC financial institutions, runs through the end of 2026 (Afreximbank).

Whether CEMAC's commercial banks actually come online in the system, and whether the BCEAO pilot launches as planned. Payments integration is real when, on a supported route, a trader in Douala can pay a supplier in Nairobi in seconds, not when the press release goes out.