The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) has called for urgent action to implement continent-wide mobile money interoperability and accelerate Africa’s digital trade agenda following discussions at the Africa Forward Summit.
In a press release signed by APN Founder and Executive Chairman, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the organisation welcomed the Summit’s strong focus on digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and inclusive innovation, but stressed that implementation must now take centre stage.
“Implementation remains the real challenge. African leaders have long acknowledged the importance of the digital economy to the continent’s prosperity. What is now required is urgent and coordinated action,” the statement said.
APN identified two key priorities it believes African governments and stakeholders must address immediately.
The first is the accelerated implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol, adopted in 2024. According to APN, many African countries are yet to operationalise the framework despite recognising the importance of digital trade.
The organisation urged governments and stakeholders to develop practical implementation roadmaps, including pilot projects on cross-border e-commerce, digital identity recognition, and harmonised data governance systems.
The second priority, APN said, is achieving mobile money interoperability across Africa to remove barriers that continue to limit cross-border trade and financial inclusion.
“Mobile money remains Africa’s most successful digital finance innovation, yet fragmented payment systems continue to limit cross-border trade, remittances, SME growth and the high-level investor incentive required for enabling more efficient movement of people, goods and services across our borders,” the statement noted.
APN highlighted the rapid growth of mobile money across the continent, revealing that global mobile money transactions surpassed US$2 trillion in 2025, with Africa accounting for approximately 66 percent of the total transaction value.
According to the organisation, Africa processed an estimated US$1.43 trillion in mobile money transactions in 2025 alone, while about 1.2 billion mobile money accounts are currently registered across the continent.
“This demonstrates that Africa already possesses one of the world’s most advanced digital financial ecosystems. Yet Africans still face unnecessary barriers when attempting to send and receive payments seamlessly across borders,” APN stated.
The organisation said enabling Africa’s estimated 1.5 billion people to trade seamlessly across borders using mobile money wallets would significantly boost intra-African trade, investment, logistics, transport, and broader market integration.
“Indeed, one of the fastest ways of making Africa borderless is making Africa digitally borderless,” the release added.
APN also pledged support for dialogue, implementation tracking, and private sector engagement to ensure the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol delivers benefits for businesses, women, youth, and underserved communities across the continent.
The organisation further encouraged Africans to support its economic integration campaign through its platform, Make Africa Borderless Now.
