Onafriq expands regulated stablecoin settlement with USDC
Payment infrastructure to and from Africa is evolving, and regulated stablecoins give us a practical way to make cross-border settlement fast and flexible. Circle gives us the trusted foundation to bring that capability to our network at scale.”
Africa’s payments market is still defined by costly cross-border fragmentation. Banks, mobile money operators, fintechs, card schemes, and domestic payment systems often work in silos, which leads to cross-border settlement that’s slower, more expensive, and operationally heavier than it needs to be.
Onafriq sits at the center of that problem. It operates a large digital payments network across Africa, connecting banks, fintechs, mobile money operators, merchants, and enterprises across more than 40 African markets — both to each other and to the rest of the world — through a single interoperable payments infrastructure. That reach gave Onafriq a strong foundation for local-currency movement, but cross-border settlement still depended on correspondent banking, foreign exchange processes, and pre-funded liquidity.
As customer demand shifted toward faster, always-on settlement, Onafriq saw an opportunity to add regulated1 stablecoin infrastructure alongside existing fiat rails. The goal was to give its network another settlement option that could improve speed, liquidity management, and operational flexibility without replacing traditional banking relationships.
Our network already connects much of Africa’s financial ecosystem. The next step was giving those institutions a settlement option that could move at the speed of the payments they support — starting with payments to and from Africa.”
Extending a network with dollar-backed stablecoin infrastructure
To support that shift, Onafriq used USDC and Circle Mint to bring stablecoin settlement into its network without requiring regulated partners to change the way they connect to its network. Onafriq used Circle’s APIs and minting capabilities to accelerate implementation, working closely with Circle’s team through API walkthroughs and scenario planning to rapidly go from concept to production readiness.
Rather than stitching together multiple providers, Onafriq worked with Circle, a single partner covering both the stablecoin itself and the settlement infrastructure underneath it, reducing what Onafriq had to build and operate on its own while preserving its broader interoperability strategy.
Circle gave us a credible digital dollar, the infrastructure to integrate it, and a team that deeply understood how to implement it into our existing systems.”
Faster settlement, stronger liquidity options, and a clearer path to scale
The most immediate impact has been speed to market. Circle’s infrastructure has significantly reduced the time and complexity required to introduce regulated1 stablecoin capabilities into Onafriq’s network, reducing rollout time from an estimated 6 months down to roughly 4 to 6 weeks.
For a business built on connectivity, that matters; every month spent assembling infrastructure is a month not spent supporting new payment flows, treasury needs, or settlement use cases.
The partnership has also changed the commercial conversation. Onafriq is now engaging more strategically with the institutions and regulators in its network regarding stablecoin-enabled cross-border payments and treasury capabilities.
With Circle’s full-stack platform, Onafriq’s teams can focus on new payment use cases instead of rebuilding core stablecoin rails or infrastructure from scratch.
Impact to the customer follows the same logic. Onafriq’s partners gain an additional settlement option for fast movement of value across borders, efficient liquidity management, and flexible payment flows for their own customers.
A foundation for the next phase of cross-border payments
Onafriq expects stablecoins to play an increasing role in cross-border payments, treasury management, and embedded financial services across Africa, with Circle as a key strategic partner in the company’s long-term roadmap, not just a single-product provider.
As adoption grows and regulation solidifies, Onafriq plans to continue expanding regulated digital asset capabilities across its network. Circle’s and Onafriq’s partnership demonstrates that infrastructure operators do not need to rebuild their payment stacks to modernize settlement. Instead, they can extend what already works with trusted internet-native dollars, applications, and infrastructure where they create the most value.
Note: Circle has a commercial relationship with Onafriq.
¹ USDC is issued by regulated affiliates of Circle. See Circle's list of regulatory authorizations.
2 All numbers provided by Onafriq as of July 23, 2026.
Circle Mint and money transmission services are provided by Circle Internet Financial, LLC. Circle Internet Financial, LLC, NMLS # 1201441, is a licensed provider of money transmission services. See Circle's licenses. Circle Mint is currently available only to institutions and is not available to individuals.
² Circle Technology Services, LLC (CTS) is the operator of Circle Payments Network (CPN) and offers products and services to financial institutions that participate in CPN to facilitate their CPN access and integration. CPN connects participating financial institutions around the world, with CTS serving as the technology service provider to participating financial institutions. While CTS does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable the global ecosystem of participating financial institutions to connect directly with each other, communicate securely, and settle directly with each other. CTS is not a party to transactions between participating financial institutions facilitated by CPN, who use CPN to execute transactions at their own risk. Use of CPN is subject to the CPN Rules and the CPN Participation Agreement between CTS and a participating financial institution.
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