The East African Community is working towards an integrated regional payment system to enable individuals and businesses to transfer money across member states faster and at lower costs. This initiative aims to boost regional trade and reduce dependence on foreign currencies. The proposed integration will connect national payment systems, commercial banks, mobile-money operators, and financial technology companies across the eight EAC Partner States.
The existing East African Payment System connects the national Real-Time Gross Settlement systems of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, enabling commercial banks in these countries to transfer and settle payments across borders in their respective local currencies. The system allows money to move from a customer's commercial bank through the national payment system, across the EAPS platform, and into the receiving country's payment system before being credited to the beneficiary.
According to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, the initiative is important in supporting trade, investment, and the free movement of capital across the region. The EAC adopted the Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan in May 2025, which contains 20 strategic initiatives organised under four pillars covering governance and regulation, infrastructure, financial inclusion, and capacity building.
The Masterplan provides for the modernisation and expansion of EAPS, establishment of a regional instant retail-payment switch, and interoperability among commercial-bank accounts, mobile-money wallets, and financial technology platforms. It also seeks to harmonise licensing and regulation of payment service providers, strengthen cybersecurity and consumer protection, and improve access to affordable payment services for small businesses and informal cross-border traders.
The implementation roadmap is divided into three phases, with the short-term phase focusing on regulatory harmonisation, infrastructure upgrades, and capacity building. The medium-term phase targets interoperability among Partner States' payment systems and the operationalisation of a regional instant retail-payment switch. The long-term phase aims to advance deeper regional integration beyond five years.
Implementation activities have already started, with the EAC inaugurating three technical working groups to provide guidance and coordinate the implementation of the Masterplan. The groups bring together representatives from central banks across the region, the EAC Secretariat, and development partners. Rwanda and Tanzania are also working on linking their national instant-payment systems as part of efforts to establish a regional instant-payment network.
The ultimate objective is to establish a regional payment ecosystem through which individuals and businesses can transfer money between any two EAC Partner States using bank accounts, mobile-money wallets, or other authorised digital-payment channels. A fully integrated system is expected to support the implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol and provide an important foundation for the proposed East African Monetary Union, whose roadmap targets a single regional currency by 2031.
Key points
- The East African Community is working towards an integrated regional payment system to enable individuals and businesses to transfer money across member states faster and at lower costs.
- The proposed integration will connect national payment systems, commercial banks, mobile-money operators, and financial technology companies across the eight EAC Partner States.
- The initiative aims to boost regional trade and reduce dependence on foreign currencies.
