.svg)
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (COMESA) Digital Retail Payments Platform (DRPP), unveiled in October 2025, is a landmark step for regional financial integration. It will enable payment service providers (PSPs) and banks to expand cross-border services, reduce transaction costs and capture emerging opportunities in 2026 and beyond.
The system is designed to enable seamless cross-border retail payments across the bloc’s 21 member states, allowing transactions to be settled in local currencies rather than US dollars.
This could reshape Africa’s payments landscape, reducing foreign exchange dependency, cutting SME transaction costs and driving financial inclusion.
The pilot phase between Malawi and Zambia is already active, and the platform marks a pivotal move from fragmented national innovation to regional interoperability, set to be a key theme in Africa in 2026.
The DRPP is compatible with existing regional settlement systems, including the COMESA Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), ensuring compatibility across financial institutions and central banks.
This reflects the view that the future of payments in the region is integrated digital ecosystems rather than domestic solutions.
The platform’s core objectives include:
- Facilitating trade settlements in local currencies, easing pressure on USD liquidity.
- Reducing SME remittance and settlement costs to below 3 percent.
- Promoting financial inclusion by giving microfinance institutions, fintechs and small banks access to affordable cross-border payments.
For regulators, this represents a new phase in regional harmonisation of payments oversight, involving coordination among central banks, national payments regulators and regional financial institutions.
In 2026, COMESA and member states are likely to issue harmonised guidance on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) and cross-border licensing standards, providing firms with clearer compliance expectations.
Preparing for multi-jurisdictional compliance
Financial institutions and PSPs operating within COMESA should prepare for multi-jurisdictional compliance requirements, including:
- Capital and licensing standards – firms may need to meet cross-border settlement licensing criteria and demonstrate capacity to manage multiple currency exposures, requiring early investment in capital planning and regulatory engagement.
- AML/CTF alignment – with multi-country flows, regulators are expected to tighten expectations, potentially requiring unified reporting formats.
- Technology and cybersecurity obligations – interoperability will increase the need for common data standards, API security and transaction monitoring across borders.
Firms that integrate with the DRPP during its pilot stage can secure a first-mover advantage, establishing presence and trust before full-scale rollout in 2026.
Capturing first-mover advantage
The DRPP offers both a compliance challenge and a strategic inflection point. Payments firms that act proactively in 2026 can secure market share and strengthen regional credibility.
Looking ahead to 2026, firms should:
- Engage proactively with central banks to understand evolving licensing and capital rules.
- Adapt compliance systems for harmonised KYC and AML requirements across jurisdictions.
- Explore partnerships to facilitate local currency liquidity and settlement efficiency.
