The accelerating race between TradFi incumbents (Visa, Mastercard, Western Union, Flutterwave) and crypto-native firms (Circle, Tether, Ripple, Yellow Card) to build stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure across Africa, while local stablecoins (cNGN, ZAR Supercoin) emerge and central banks raise sovereignty concerns.
The Bank of Ghana and SEC have jointly directed virtual asset service providers to cease mass marketing and remove billboards, days after admitting six entities into a regulatory sandbox.
Olugbenga Agboola said rising demand from clients and suppliers already using stablecoins pushed Flutterwave to build payment flows that match how people are transacting today.
Dubbed the ZAR Supercoin, the stablecoin designed and developed by New York-listed Super Group, is backed by cash reserves in Absa bank.
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While the full rollout is scheduled for 2026, a pilot program of the product feature is expected to run its course before the end of the year.
Despite these impressive figures, there is a huge policy vacuum sitting between potential and scale.
The network also wants its system to be compatible with more modern digital finance rails such as stablecoins
Ripple described Africa as a “natural next step” for RLUSD, citing increasing demand among businesses worldwide.
The two companies have already partnered on crypto card solutions with Bybit and S1LKPAY, which use USDC to settle transactions.
