This year’s G20 and B20 activities are the ideal catalyst for financial inclusion and cross-border payments to be advanced throughout Africa, making the continent a more seamless and dynamic trade region.
This is the view of deputy finance minister David Masondo, who addressed the B20’s second Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion plenary meeting in Skukuza, Mpumalanga, this week. Financial inclusion is expected to drive competition, innovation, and cost-effectiveness.
Masondo said the National Treasury’s financial sector development reform programme invested in infrastructure and reforms to enhance economic inclusion.
The inclusive payments digitalisation programme developed by the Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank was designed to realise the overarching strategies of the national payment system framework and strategy in line with its Vision 2025.
“This initiative aims to bring practical digital payment solutions to the informal sector. We have piloted it in Thembisa and Hammanskraal to develop digital ecosystems right where people live and work.”
South Africa’s presidency of the G20 in 2025 comes as African states deepen their commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to turn the continent into the largest free-trade area in the world.
But payments between African countries remain a challenge.
A total of 54 countries have signed the agreement. One of its priorities is driving financial inclusion for informal and small businesses in Africa, unlocking an estimated R1.125-trillion in value through solutions including the Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
Conceptualised by the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the AU in 2022, the PAPSS is an instant payment system that allows the efficient flow of money securely across African borders.
The Treasury was streamlining regulations to encourage low-cost fintech solutions through the intergovernmental fintech working group. It was also strengthening consumer protection to build trust in digital finance through the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill.
“This [inclusive payments digitalisation programme] pilot is a testament to what is possible when we blend policy intent with innovation. We plan to expand such efforts, so that no entrepreneur is left behind by the digital finance revolution.”
Africa’s future lies in its ability to trade seamlessly across borders
— Meera Sunker of BankservAfrica
Masondo said while South Africa managed to achieve higher levels of bank account ownership, thanks in part to social grants and banking outreach, globally 1.5-billion people still lack access to a bank account.
Over the past decade, efforts across G20 countries had dramatically expanded financial access and millions of previously unbanked people and businesses now have bank accounts or mobile wallets, he said.
Meera Sunker, head of the transactions cleared on an immediate basis (TCIB) initiative at BankservAfrica, said intra-Africa trade accounts for a reported 18% of total trade, compared to 59% in Asia and 68% in Europe.
“Moving money across borders remains costly and fragmented. But that’s starting to change thanks to regional innovations like the TCIB scheme. This entails a low-cost, real-time cross-border payments system.
“Africa’s future lies in its ability to trade seamlessly across borders.”
The TCIB’s focus is on all 16 Sadc countries. The next tranche of country engagements for market mobilisation will be Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to BankservAfrica, the TCIB is “an interoperable solution that caters for high volume day-to-day and low-value cross-border payments in real-time and supports the Sadc governments’ requirement for a solution to support regional payments integration”.
She said remittance costs in Sub-Saharan Africa remain among the highest in the world. Informal channels, slow clearing times and layered fees continue to affect millions relying on remittance support.
“We cannot build the cross-border payment system of tomorrow in silos. It takes collective action — banks, fintechs, regulators and regional bodies working in sync.”
She said interventions were gaining momentum. In March 2025 alone, TCIB processed 73,000 transactions with a total value of R317m.
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