As global trade tensions escalate, Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Oliver Alawuba, has called for a renewed focus on intra-African trade to mitigate the impact of rising international tariffs.
Speaking at the launch of the Nigeria-Ghana corridor of UBA’s cross-border payment partnership with PAPSS, Alawuba emphasized the urgency of building a resilient African trade ecosystem powered by local currencies and digital innovation.
“Intra-African trade is very low. This is the time for this product,” Alawuba said. “We do business with Western countries all the time, but intra-African trade has been even lower; we need to improve on that. Even the tariff regime in the world today is telling us that this is the time for us to do business with each other.”
Global Tariffs Trigger Urgency for Regional Integration
Alawuba’s remarks come in the wake of sweeping global tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in April, which included a 14% tariff on Nigerian imports.
Although the tariffs were temporarily postponed for 90 days to allow for bilateral negotiations, most talks failed to yield new agreements. As of August 1, the revised scheme imposed 15% tariffs, with no trade deals struck between the U.S. and any African country.
This breakdown in global negotiations has intensified calls for African nations to strengthen regional trade ties and reduce dependence on foreign markets.
LEO and PAPSS: Africa’s Digital Response
Alawuba said UBA’s AI-powered chatbot, LEO, has now been equipped with cross-border payment functionality, making it the first of its kind on the continent to facilitate instant remittances using local currencies.
The platform leverages the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), developed in partnership with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and approved by central banks across participating countries.
“With this solution, all transactions are done with African currencies,” Alawuba explained. “We don’t need to pay any charges in dollars. We don’t need to put pressure on the foreign exchange market, which is a big issue around the inflation rate today in the various countries we have.”
He illustrated the platform’s potential with a real-world example:
“The shoe exporter in Aba can export goods to people in Ghana and receive Naira, all digitally and in real time, without any border restrictions. I think this is transformational. And I think this is the future of Africa that we are building.”
PAPSS CEO Highlights Global-Standard Infrastructure
Mike Ogbalu, CEO of PAPSS, also spoke at the event, describing the platform as a world-class financial market infrastructure designed to enable multilateral net settlement across African borders.
“So, what we have built, even though we are African, is world-class,” Ogbalu said. “The PAPSS infrastructure can stand anywhere in the world.”
The system is designed to facilitate seamless payments between African countries using local currencies, reducing reliance on foreign exchange and enhancing trade efficiency.
