Access Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA) have entered into a partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to eliminate trade barriers.
This collaboration was announced during the annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) held in Accra, Ghana.
As part of their commitment to facilitate seamless cross-border transactions within African markets, Access Bank and UBA have joined forces with other prominent African group banks to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) on the use of Afreximbank's Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). This initiative, promoted by Afreximbank, aims to simplify foreign exchange complexities involved in cross-border trade across the continent.
UBA has identified several sectors, including Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Transport and logistics, Agriculture, and agro-processing, as beneficiaries of comprehensive support and enhanced trade facilitation through this agreement. Access Bank, on the other hand, emphasized the establishment of a robust payment infrastructure to boost inter-African trade.
Victor Etuokwu, Deputy Managing Director, Retail North at Access Bank, stated that the bank has a vast network of traders, businesses, and SMEs across every African country, engaging in trade with counterparts from different regions. Etuokwu added that the PAPSS platform would enable transactions without the reliance on the US dollar, thereby streamlining payments.
In other news, the Nigerian naira witnessed a significant development in the foreign exchange market. For the first time in eight years, the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar was consistent in both the official and black markets, closing at N756.
This convergence followed recent foreign exchange reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Kingsley Obiora, the CBN's deputy governor, elaborated on the ongoing operational reforms within Nigeria's foreign exchange markets.
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