For multi-currency gateways operating in West Africa, the compliance landscape just bifurcated. The Bank of Ghana is moving to mandate 1:1 commercial bank reserves for cedi-backed stablecoins while strictly curtailing USDT for domestic settlement. Today on The Settlement Layer, we also unpack a proposed 16% VAT on non-bank acquiring in Kenya, and a major pushback from South African digital asset platforms against SARB's draft cross-border outflow limits.
Uruguay-headquartered cross-border payment processor dLocal secured an Enhanced Payment Service Provider (EPSP) license from the Bank of Ghana on Wednesday, September 9, through its local subsidiary. The license permits dLocal to connect directly to Ghanaian mobile money networks and bank clearing houses, enabling localized collections, merchant acquiring, and direct inbound payout processing without third-party local aggregator intermediaries. Ghana recorded 4.54 trillion cedis ($397 billion) in mobile money volume in 2025.
Why it matters
Direct licensing allows global processors to bypass domestic aggregator markups and eliminate intermediary hop latency, significantly lowering processing costs and improving settlement success rates for multinational enterprise clients. For regional gateways operating in West Africa, global players securing direct central bank access increases competitive pressure on merchant discount rates and processing margins. To defend local market share, regional gateways must emphasize value-added services like automated tax compliance, instant settlement, and deeper localized risk scoring.
TerraPay announced a strategic partnership with Ant International's Alipay+ on Wednesday, September 9, linking 15 African digital wallet providers via its Xend interoperability switch to Alipay+'s network of over 150 million international merchants. The integration allows wallet holders to execute outbound in-store QR code payments directly from their domestic mobile money apps when travelling globally, without requiring credit cards or separate forex exchange steps.
Why it matters
Linking domestic mobile wallets directly to international merchant acceptance networks expands the utility of African digital wallets beyond national borders. By embedding cross-border QR clearing into existing mobile money apps, infrastructure aggregators reduce reliance on traditional card rails for outbound consumer spending. Acquirers and wallet issuers gain transaction fee revenue from foreign point-of-sale spending without building bespoke international acceptance rails.
South African digital asset platforms including VALR, Luno, AltCoinTrader, and EasyEquities formed the CATASTROPHE coalition on Wednesday, September 9, to formally oppose draft cross-border regulations from the National Treasury and SARB. The proposed Crypto Asset Manual for Cross-Border Activities would classify corporate crypto-based international transfers as illegal capital exports and restrict inflows from self-hosted wallets into licensed local platforms. SARB responded that its regulatory position remains open for public comment through September 30, 2026.
Why it matters
If gazetted without modification, the draft rules will strip South African gateways and merchants of the ability to use stablecoin rails for international supplier settlement and cross-border trade. B2B payment providers relying on digital asset rails for ZAR-to-USD liquidity faces complete operational exclusion, forcing cross-border trade back into legacy commercial bank forex desks with multi-day delays and higher fees. The coalition's push for activity-based regulation represents the final window for industry operators to preserve low-cost stablecoin clearing in South Africa.
Data published in the Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report on Wednesday, September 9, reveals that strict customs enforcement by SARS has curtailed cross-border parcel imports. Following the removal of the R500 de minimis tax exemption and increased tariff scrutinies, Shein's growth slowed to 11% while Temu recorded monthly volume declines averaging 42%. Both global e-commerce platforms are pivoting toward onshore warehousing, local fulfillment, and domestic merchant onboarding.
Why it matters
The shift from direct cross-border parcel delivery to local fulfillment transforms the payment acquiring needs of international e-commerce platforms in South Africa. As foreign e-tailers establish domestic operating entities, their payment processing migrates from offshore cross-border card acquiring to local ZAR settlement, instant EFT, and local payment methods like PayShap. Gateway operators serving the South African market gain expanded acquiring opportunities as global merchants seek domestic processing partners.
CBN-licensed payment switching company ChamsSwitch launched the GLASS payment gateway on Wednesday, September 9. The unified infrastructure allows Nigerian merchants to accept Visa, Mastercard, Verve, UnionPay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay, and WeChat Pay through a single API integration. Transactions are settled in Naira through regulated commercial banking rails, targeting cross-border merchants, hospitality operators, and e-commerce platforms servicing international buyers.
Why it matters
Consolidating Western card schemes alongside major Asian digital wallets onto an established local switching infrastructure eliminates the need for merchants to maintain fragmented, multi-provider checkout setups. Native support for Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay directly serves businesses engaged in the expanding Asia-Nigeria trade corridor by enabling inbound payments without foreign currency account friction. Gateways competing in West Africa will face pressure to offer similar multi-regional wallet orchestrations.
At an engineering summit in Lagos on Wednesday, September 9, Moniepoint detailed the distributed systems architecture powering its card processing stack, which handles over 20 million daily transactions. Senior engineering teams outlined a 'failure-first' operational framework that continuously monitors issuing bank health across processing nodes, failing fast when latency spikes and dynamically suppressing traffic to degraded banking channels to prevent user debit lock-ups.
Why it matters
In high-volume markets like Nigeria where interbank network degradation frequently triggers pending debits and false declines, system reliability requires active routing controls rather than simple retry logic. Dynamic traffic suppression protects merchants from abandoned checkouts and saves acquirers from manual dispute processing caused by downstream processor outages. Adopting real-time health-scoring mechanisms is becoming essential for B2B payment gateways aiming to maintain high authorization rates.
Nigeria's AfCFTA Coordination Office announced on Wednesday, September 9, that processing times for Certificates of Origin have been reduced from over five days to 24 hours. National Coordinator Patience Okala attributed the speedup to digital workflows integrated directly with the Nigeria Customs Service. NACO also confirmed that eight non-tariff barriers have been resolved and five Nigerian entities have applied for funding under the $10 million AfCFTA Adjustment Fund.
Why it matters
Compressing documentation processing from five days to a single day significantly reduces cross-border supply chain delays and speeds up working-capital turnover for exporters. Streamlined trade documentation complements instant cross-border settlement initiatives like PAPSS, removing physical customs friction that previously bottlenecked trade velocity. Gateway providers supporting cross-border B2B transactions can leverage faster customs clearing to offer tighter invoice-reconciliation and trade-finance products.
Data released by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) on Wednesday, September 9, shows annual banking fraud losses reached R3.9 billion, with mobile banking apps accounting for two-thirds of reported incidents. Industry surveys indicate three-quarters of South African banks report increased attack volumes driven by social engineering, OTP interception, and generative AI exploitation targeting instant payment rails. Concurrently, FIDO Alliance data shows passkey authentication achieved a 93% login success rate versus 63% for passwords.
Why it matters
The rapid adoption of real-time account-to-account payment switches like PayShap has compressed settlement windows, giving fraud syndicates narrower timeframes to exploit stolen credentials. Relying solely on SMS OTPs leaves merchants and banks vulnerable to account takeover attacks, driving an industry shift toward passkey authentication and behavioral biometric monitoring. Payment gateways must upgrade their pre-checkout risk scoring to evaluate session telemetry before triggering instant transfer instructions.
Paystack initiated an operational expansion of its compliance and regulatory monitoring stack on Wednesday, September 9, to support stablecoin integration and cross-border settlement. The company opened recruiting for specialized compliance personnel in Lagos to manage Travel Rule implementation, multi-corridor transaction surveillance across fiat and virtual asset rails, and ongoing compliance with South Africa's FSCA CASP framework following its FICA license registration.
Why it matters
Paystack's formalization of its virtual asset compliance stack signals that major African payment gateways are building the institutional machinery required to operate hybrid fiat-stablecoin payment rails. Navigating complex cross-border requirements like the FATF Travel Rule and South Africa's CASP mandates requires dedicated compliance technology and staffing. For competing B2B gateways, scaling stablecoin payout options requires significant early investment in automated risk tracking and regulatory reporting.
Kenya's Finance Bill 2026 proposals published on Wednesday, September 9, include a 16% Value-Added Tax on digital payment processing, fund transfers, and merchant acquiring services by removing existing tax exemptions. The measure applies to non-bank payment service providers and digital intermediaries like M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and Pesapal, while core bank-led financial services remain exempt. If passed, the tax takes effect July 1, 2026.
Why it matters
Imposing a 16% VAT directly on acquiring and processing fees expands the cost stack for online merchants, compressing gateway margins and forcing processors to either absorb the tax or pass it down through higher merchant discount rates. Because core commercial bank transactions remain exempt, the proposed tax structure creates an asymmetric advantage for traditional bank rails over specialized non-bank payment gateways. Payment providers in East Africa must evaluate dynamic pricing models and prepare merchant communications to handle potential fee adjustments.
Kenya's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) published official regulatory guidance on cross-border data transfers on Wednesday, September 9. Drawing from the Data Protection Act (2019) and the Kenya Cloud Policy (2025), the framework establishes binding operational requirements for entities transferring personal financial data outside the country, mandating strict compliance audits and legal safeguards for foreign cloud processing.
Why it matters
Enforcing strict cross-border data transfer rules directly impacts how multi-market fintechs and payment processors architect their cloud infrastructure and handle customer KYC records. Payment gateways operating across East Africa must verify that their transaction routing, fraud analytics, and third-party API tools comply with ODPC data localization and transfer standards. Failing to align cross-border data pipelines risks administrative fines and operational suspensions in Kenya.
Advancing the joint stablecoin regulatory sprint and the Virtual Assets Coordinating Committee (VACC) framework we've been tracking, the Bank of Ghana announced on Wednesday, September 9, that it is drafting a dedicated regulatory framework for privately issued, cedi-backed stablecoins. The policy mandates that local issuers maintain 1:1 reserve backing held in regulated commercial bank accounts to support programmable transactions and atomic settlement. Concurrently, the central bank confirmed plans to impose strict operational restrictions on foreign-currency stablecoins like USDT to prevent domestic commercial settlement in foreign digital tender.
Why it matters
The framework creates a clear statutory pathway for local-currency tokenization in West Africa, giving payment gateways a compliant programmable rail for automated merchant payouts and escrow logic. However, the explicit clampdown on foreign currency tokens will create immediate operational friction for cross-border gateways that rely on USDT or USDC liquidity pools to settle international trade contracts. Multi-currency gateways targeting Ghana must prepare to bifurcate their stack between compliant cedi tokens for domestic trade and strict VASP channels for foreign corridors.
Central Banks Erect Domestic Currency Safeguards Against Unregulated Token Flows Monetary authorities in Ghana and South Africa are moving concurrently to ring-fence domestic settlement against unapproved foreign currency tokens. The Bank of Ghana's draft framework mandates strict 1:1 commercial bank backing for cedi-backed stablecoins while restricting dollar-pegged tokens, mirroring South Africa's proposed cross-border manual that restricts corporate digital asset outflows.
Multinational Payment Gateways Bypass Intermediaries via Direct Central Bank Licensing Global acquiring networks are shifting from partner-dependent models to securing direct regulatory standing. dLocal's Enhanced Payment Service Provider license in Ghana follows similar direct clearing approvals across West Africa, enabling cross-border processors to connect straight to mobile money switches and cut out local acquiring intermediaries.
Fiscal Enforcement and Tax Mandates Target the Digital Acquiring Stack Governments are turning to payment processors as direct collection enforcement layers. Kenya's proposal to add a 16% VAT on payment acquiring and processing services, combined with South Africa's SARS customs crackdown on low-value import parcels, signals that tax authorities view gateway traffic as primary fiscal collection points.
Pan-Asian Digital Wallets Gain Direct Acceptance Across African Commerce Gateways Settlement infrastructure is expanding to support inbound trade from Asian corridors without multi-hop foreign exchange conversion. Deployments like ChamsSwitch's GLASS gateway in Nigeria and TerraPay's Alipay+ integration demonstrate acquirers directly embedding Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay into domestic switching layers.
Gateway Engineering Shifts to Failure-First Architecture Under Instant Rail Stress With instant payment switches and high transaction volumes exposing downstream bank bottlenecks, engineering priorities have pivoted from peak throughput to failure isolation. Acquirers like Moniepoint are deploying real-time issuing-bank health monitoring and automated circuit breakers to suppress traffic to degraded processor nodes before transactions fail.
What to Expect
2026-09-30—Public consultation window closes for South African Reserve Bank's draft Crypto Asset Manual for Cross-Border Activities.
2026-10-01—Google deadline for Kenya-based digital creators to submit KRA PINs to avoid 5% withholding tax freezes.
2026-12-31—Central Bank of Nigeria compliance deadline for payment market concentration caps on switching and processing.
2027-01-01—Central Bank of Nigeria hard deadline enforcing 100% onshore data localization for financial institutions.
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