At the 15th Africa Internet Governance Forum in Accra on 2 November, the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) chairman delivered a keynote on the power of mobile money interoperability and visa‑free travel to transform intra‑African commerce.
APN estimates that if both reforms were adopted, intra‑African trade could rise from roughly 16% of total trade to more than 25% in five years. The chairman cited 2025 global mobile money flows of US$2.1 trillion, with about US$1.4 trillion—two‑thirds of the total—transacted in sub‑Saharan Africa. West Africa alone recorded US$498 billion across 517 million accounts, while Ghana logged over one billion mobile money transactions in a single month last August.
Despite these volumes, African markets remain fragmented, with intra‑regional trade at only 59% in Asia and 68% in Europe. Fragmentation also inflates payment costs; more than 80% of cross‑border payments route through non‑African banks, costing the continent roughly US$5.3 billion a year in fees and currency conversion.
APN’s vision is that a trader in Kumasi could pay a supplier in Abidjan using cedis from her wallet, with the supplier instantly receiving CFA francs. The transaction would be secure, affordable and would not require either party to source dollars or carry cash across borders. Scaling such transactions could free capital for expansion, improve cash flow, and provide reliable records for credit and insurance—especially benefiting women, SMEs and young entrepreneurs.
However, seamless payments must be paired with free movement. The APN chairman stressed that trusted digital identity is essential to enable visa‑free travel. The Smart Africa Trust Alliance (SATA) and Smart Africa Data Exchange (SADX) provide frameworks for cross‑border identity verification while safeguarding privacy. Nineteen countries have signed the SATA Declaration, and Ghana, Benin and Rwanda have piloted SADX identity checks.
Since the Make Africa Borderless Now! campaign began this year, several states have introduced or announced visa‑free policies for Africans. The APN’s agenda for the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, scheduled for 13–15 January 2027 in Accra, is “The Africa We Want Is Borderless. Move Freely. Pay Seamlessly. Trade More.”
APN invites stakeholders to register for the event at www.apd2027.africaprosperitynetwork.com to help turn these ambitions into reality.
