The 21 member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) can now trade directly in local currencies rather than the US dollar via its recently launched Digital Retail Payments Platform (DRPP), which went live on October 9. The Lusaka-based bloc notes that the platform reduces settlement delays, lowers transaction costs, and alleviates dollar-funding pressure on regional banks.
“This platform is a major step toward reducing currency-conversion losses and strengthening intra-COMESA trade,” COMESA Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe said at the launch. She added that member states lose “hundreds of millions of dollars annually” due to dollar-denominated settlement costs and volatility.
The initiative could reroute part of the region’s $30 billion in annual intra-regional trade onto African clearing rails, according to analysts.
The DRPP allows near-real-time settlement between national currencies.
Pilot tests over six months involved central banks in Kenya, Egypt, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda, and commercial-bank pilots with Equity Group, KCB Group, Zanaco, and CIB Egypt. COMESA’s Payments Unit reported over 11,000 test transactions, with average settlement under two minutes compared with 48-72 hours via offshore correspondent banks.
“Exporters could save 2%-4% on conversion costs once fully implemented,” says Dr. Emily Musaba, COMESA’s Director of Trade Integration.
The DRPP is grounded in the COMESA’s 2025-published Regional Payment and Settlement Regulations and requires participating central banks to maintain prefunded settlement accounts, thereby mitigating credit and liquidity risks. The system could reshape regional banking flows and influence how global banks assess correspondent-banking exposure and FX-risk pricing across Africa, say analysts.
Commercial lenders will see reduced reliance on dollar clearing. COMESA officials said the system improves liquidity management and allows banks to price cross-border products more competitively.
Kapwepwe emphasized that the reform is about financial autonomy, not isolation.
“This isn’t about turning away from global markets; it’s about positioning Africa as a predictable, investable and efficient trading zone,” she said.
COMESA expects the platform to support long-term goals of increasing intra-regional trade from roughly 12% of total commerce to 20%, marking a major upgrade to Africa’s payments architecture.
