{"id":11785,"date":"2026-07-06T13:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T13:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/?p=11785"},"modified":"2026-07-06T13:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T13:14:19","slug":"visa-m-pesa-and-onafriq-test-stablecoins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/visa-m-pesa-and-onafriq-test-stablecoins\/","title":{"rendered":"Visa, M-Pesa, and Onafriq Test Stablecoins for Cross-Border Mobile Money in DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visa<\/a>, M-Pesa<\/a>, and pan-African payments infrastructure provider Onafriq <\/a>have launched a stablecoin pilot in the Democratic Republic of Congo to streamline cross-border mobile money transactions. The initiative uses stablecoins for backend settlement of M-Pesa wallet top-ups through Visa\u2019s Visa Pay platform, potentially offering faster and more efficient movement of value in a market long dominated by cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo, with its vast geography, low financial inclusion rates, and heavy reliance on mobile money alongside cash, serves as a demanding testbed. Only about 30% of adults have access to formal financial services, making innovations that bridge mobile wallets and global payment rails particularly relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the pilot, stablecoins handle settlement behind the scenes when users top up M-Pesa wallets. Customers experience no change in the familiar mobile money interface, but the treasury and settlement layers benefit from near-instant, lower-cost rails compared to traditional correspondent banking. The project builds on Visa\u2019s earlier Visa Pay launch in the DRC, which connects card networks to local mobile money providers including M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and Orange Money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visa executives<\/strong> have described the effort as a practical demonstration of stablecoins\u2019 utility in emerging markets compressing float requirements, reducing settlement times, and lowering costs for cross-border flows. The collaboration leverages Onafriq\u2019s established mobile money corridors and partnerships, including prior work with stablecoin infrastructure providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DRC presents both opportunity and complexity. Mobile money adoption is growing rapidly, yet cross-border transfers remain slow and expensive due to currency controls, liquidity management challenges, and infrastructure gaps. Stablecoin settlement could address pain points in inbound remittances and top-ups, which are critical for a population with significant diaspora ties and informal trade networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not Visa\u2019s first foray into stablecoins. The company has expanded settlement capabilities globally, integrating various dollar-backed tokens to offer issuers and acquirers more efficient options. The African pilot extends that strategy into mobile money the continent\u2019s dominant digital payments rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa remains the global leader in mobile money, accounting for the majority of worldwide transaction value. Yet interoperability across borders and between mobile wallets and traditional rails continues to lag. Partnerships like this one test whether blockchain-based settlement layers can enhance rather than replace existing systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For M-Pesa, the continent\u2019s largest mobile money platform, the pilot aligns with efforts to deepen regional connectivity and explore new settlement mechanisms. Onafriq, with its extensive network across African markets, provides the on-the-ground infrastructure to make such experiments viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulators are watching closely. While the Central Bank of Congo and other authorities have shown openness to digital innovation, stablecoin usage will likely face scrutiny around consumer protection, anti-money laundering, and capital flow management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot\u2019s outcomes could determine whether stablecoin settlement scales beyond testing in the DRC. Success metrics will likely include settlement speed, cost reduction, liquidity efficiency, and user adoption of linked services. If proven effective, the model could expand to other corridors where mobile money and cross-border needs intersect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the payments industry, the collaboration highlights a maturing approach: using stablecoins as a backend tool to improve existing rails rather than as a consumer-facing disruption. In markets like the DRC, where trust, accessibility, and familiarity matter deeply, seamless integration is key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Africa\u2019s digital economy expands, experiments like this one will help define the infrastructure of tomorrow\u2019s payments blending mobile money ubiquity with the efficiency of programmable, near-instant settlement. The results from Congo could influence how global players and local operators approach similar opportunities across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Support<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visa, M-Pesa, and pan-African payments infrastructure provider Onafriq have launched a stablecoin pilot in the Democratic Republic of Congo to streamline cross-border mobile money transactions. The initiative uses stablecoins for backend settlement of M-Pesa wallet top-ups through Visa\u2019s Visa Pay platform, potentially offering faster and more efficient movement of value in a market long dominated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31579,"featured_media":11790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[484],"tags":[1488,2135],"ppma_author":[452],"class_list":["post-11785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fintech","tag-m-pesa","tag-visa"],"authors":[{"term_id":452,"user_id":31579,"is_guest":0,"slug":"estherspeaks","display_name":"Esthy Speaks","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cdcaf0f94087bbfcad372d974a1a697382dc93112457104ff6535cf4984ea4de?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Esthy","last_name":"Speaks","user_url":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/","job_title":"","description":"Ester Speaks is a senior reporter and newsroom strategist at Villpress, where she shapes Africa-focused business, technology, and policy coverage.\u00a0 She works at the intersection of journalism, and editorial systems, producing clear, high-impact news that travels globally while staying rooted in African realities."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11791,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11785\/revisions\/11791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11785"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/villpress.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=11785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}