Joseph Isangura
The East African Community (EAC) has endorsed a transformative Cross-border Payment System Masterplan, a five-year regional strategy aimed at modernizing the way money moves between its partner states.
Approved during the 28th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) held in May 2025, the plan has been welcomed as a strategic move to fix long-standing challenges in cross-border trade and finance.
Regional leaders believe the initiative will significantly lower the cost of financial transactions, shorten settlement times, and reduce dependence on third-party currencies like the United States Dollar (USD), which currently dominates intra-EAC payments.
“We are entering a new phase of regional financial integration,” said a senior official at the EAC Secretariat. “If fully implemented, this Masterplan will revolutionize how East Africans send, receive, and use money.”
At the heart of the problem are fragmented national payment systems, regulatory differences, and outdated infrastructure that make cross-border payments between EAC member countries costly and inefficient.
A business exporting goods from Kenya to Uganda, for example, typically pays high transfer fees, endures currency conversions, and faces settlement delays that can exceed 48 hours.
The World Bank estimates that remittance fees in sub-Saharan Africa are among the highest globally—often exceeding 7% of the amount sent. For a region that depends heavily on intra-African trade, these costs are unsustainable.
The EAC’s Masterplan is built on four foundational pillars:
- Policy and Regulatory Harmonization – Streamlining legal frameworks to enable seamless operation of financial services across borders. See more on financial regulation.
- Infrastructure Development – Building modern digital systems to support real-time gross settlement (RTGS) platforms and ensure high-speed transaction processing.
- Financial Market Deepening – Promoting broader financial inclusion and encouraging the entry of innovative fintech providers. Learn more about financial market structures.
- Capacity Building – Training central banks, regulators, and payment service providers to administer and manage the new systems.
The plan also supports the interoperability of mobile money platforms—critical for economies like Rwanda and Tanzania, where mobile financial services play a dominant role in the informal and formal economies alike.
Implementation will rely on cooperation from key institutions such as the Bank of Uganda, Central Bank of Kenya, and other regional banks. The project has also received technical support from international partners, including TradeMark Africa, GIZ, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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A core ambition is to reduce reliance on foreign intermediaries for transactions within the region. The current system often forces businesses in places like Bujumbura and Juba to route payments through New York or London—a costly and time-consuming detour.
If fully implemented, this initiative will support the goals of the proposed East African Monetary Union, and eventually, a single regional currency.
Imagine a trader in Goma, DRC sending payment to a supplier in Dar es Salaam through a mobile app—instantly, securely, and without converting money into dollars or shillings.
The initiative also aligns with the broader objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to ease the movement of goods, services, and capital across Africa’s borders.
In the months ahead, EAC member states are expected to begin adapting their national policies to align with the Masterplan. Central banks will play a central role in testing cross-border systems and onboarding licensed financial institutions.
Success will depend on political will, public trust, and the region’s ability to adopt digital financial infrastructure at scale. But for now, the EAC’s bold new payment roadmap represents a shared vision for a more connected, prosperous East Africa.
