Circle, the issuer of USDC, partnered with African payments company Onafriq to use stablecoins for cross-border settlement. The partnership targets a longstanding problem in African payments: money often moves through multiple banks and currencies before reaching its destination, increasing costs and settlement times.
Onafriq announced the partnership in April 2025, saying more than 80% of intra-African payments were routed through correspondent banks outside the continent. The company estimated that this structure generated about $5 billion in annual transaction fees.
USDC moves into Onafriq’s payment network
Onafriq operates a large payment network connecting financial institutions, mobile money providers and other payment platforms across African markets. Circle said the partnership would allow USDC to be used as a settlement asset while existing local payment connections remain in place.
The model matters because stablecoins do not need to replace local currencies at the consumer level to improve cross-border payments. Instead, USDC can act as an intermediary settlement asset between financial institutions, with recipients ultimately receiving local currency.
That approach can reduce the need for institutions to pre-fund multiple currency accounts and can shorten the time required to reconcile international payments. Circle’s current case study says Onafriq uses Circle Mint and Circle’s APIs to bring USDC settlement into its existing network rather than rebuilding its payment infrastructure.
Stablecoin use is also growing across Africa as businesses and consumers look for alternatives to expensive or slow international payment channels. Chainalysis reported that stablecoins represented a significant share of crypto activity in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024.
Also Read: Circle Acquires IBM Blockchain Patents to Grow USDC and Onchain Finance
Circle expands its African payments strategy
The Onafriq partnership is now part of a larger Circle payments strategy. In April 2025, Circle launched the Circle Payments Network, connecting banks, payment providers and digital-asset firms for stablecoin-based cross-border settlement. The network began rolling out in May 2025 and has since added more payment corridors and institutional partners.
Onafriq has subsequently moved beyond the original pilot concept. Circle’s latest case study says the company has used USDC and Circle Mint to support settlement and liquidity management across its network, and describes Circle as a long-term strategic partner.
Circle’s broader African expansion has also continued. In March 2026, it announced a separate collaboration with Sasai Fintech to explore USDC applications for enterprise payments, consumer transactions and cross-border transfers across Africa.
The bigger test is whether stablecoin settlement can reduce costs without creating new compliance, liquidity or currency-conversion problems. For Onafriq, USDC is not a replacement for Africa’s local payment systems. It is becoming another settlement layer connecting them.
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