PAPSS provides solution to currency challenges, Bawumia
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has noted that the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) does not only apply to the transaction of goods and services but also to stocks and bonds.
In this regard, he urged individuals in the capital market to leverage the benefits of the system as it provides a solution to monetary challenges faced by the continent.
He made this call at the opening of the second edition of the West African Capital Market Conference 2021 (WACMaC 21), themed, ‘Deepening and strengthening capital markets across West Africa through effective regulation’
“It not only applies to goods and services but will also be available for stocks and bonds. As we work on the payment and settlement platforms for capital market integration, we should ride on the PAPSS platform which makes it easy for someone in Ghana to buy stock in another jurisdiction and pay in cedis while the settlement is done in the corresponding currency… we should use this platform to make our integration feasible. We should now press on to get the rest of the regulatory framework in place,” he said.
PAPSS was launched in January this year to allow smooth intra-African trade where a party in one African country is allowed to pay in their own currency while the recipient in another country receives payment in their own currency.
The Vice President praised the efforts of the West African Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) and West African Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC) noting that the goal to achieve uniformity in Africa remain too significant to be left untapped.
According to him Africa’s infrastructure financing deficit which is estimated to be around US$100 billion a year and could reach as much as US$170 billion a year by 2025 could be done away with if these systems are established.
He however noted that “as regulators, we should not stand in the way of innovators, as they will drive our next industrial economy and we should give them the space,” he said.
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia