TL;DR:
- Onafriq adopted USDC as a settlement rail to execute cross-border transactions across more than 40 African markets.
- The pan-African network connects nearly 1 billion mobile wallets and aims to reclaim $5 billion in annual fees.
- The integration with Circle reduced deployment time from six months to between four and six actual weeks.
Onafriq is the largest pan-African payments operator on the continent and connects approximately 1 billion mobile wallets and 500 million bank accounts across more than 40 markets. The company announced that it will scale its use of USDC as a settlement rail for cross-border payments, as part of a strategic partnership with Circle, the stablecoin’s issuer, formalized recently in Dubai.
The problem this initiative seeks to solve is structural. More than 80% of cross-border transactions in Africa are routed through offshore correspondent banks, meaning a payment from Lagos to Nairobi may pass through London or New York before reaching its destination. The cost of that inefficiency amounts to roughly $5 billion in annual fees, a significant burden on trade between African nations.
USDC as an Alternative to Correspondent Banking
Onafriq’s proposal does not involve dismantling the existing infrastructure of its partners. Instead, it positions USDC as a parallel rail that operates alongside traditional fiat systems, offering faster and lower-cost settlements. The network serves banks, fintech companies, mobile money operators, and merchants.
Onafriq is expanding regulated stablecoin settlement across Africa with USDC.
By using USDC, Circle Mint, and Circle Payments Network, @Onafriq is adding a regulated digital dollar settlement option alongside its existing rails across a pan-African payments network spanning more…
— Circle (@circle) August 25, 2026
A case study published by Circle revealed one of the most striking figures of the process: Onafriq had initially estimated that deploying USDC settlements would take around six months. The actual time was four to six weeks. The speed is attributed to Circle’s API and Mint capabilities, which allowed the stablecoin to be integrated without requiring major overhauls to the network partners’ systems.
Key Alliances Behind the Strategy
Onafriq holds payment licenses across multiple markets and has established that regulatory compliance is a non-negotiable element of its stablecoin strategy. Its CEO Dare Okoudjou framed the initiative around simplifying transactions and strengthening financial inclusion across the continent.
The partnership with Circle to use USDC is just one piece of a broader and more complex plan. In February 2026, Onafriq partnered with Conduit, and in July of the same year announced a collaboration with Privy to build regulated stablecoin infrastructure, aiming to put an end to decades of banking inefficiency with more efficient digital rails.
