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By Usman Aliyu
A non-governmental organisation, AfricaNenda Foundation on Wednesday concluded a three-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, aimed at equipping journalists with skills to deepen reporting on inclusive instant payment systems (IPS) and financial inclusion in Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop brought together 18 journalists and three participants from the African Union Commission.
The discussions focused on moving coverage of instant payments beyond technology and transaction volumes to the real-life experiences of consumers, businesses and underserved communities.
Dr Patrick Olomo, Head of Economic Policy and Sustainable Development at the African Union Commission, said effective digital payment systems were critical to reducing fragmentation and financial exclusion across the continent.
Olomo said the AU and AfricaNenda had, since 2023, worked towards regulatory harmonisation to facilitate seamless digital payments across African countries.
According to him, the initiative was not intended to create another payment infrastructure but to make existing systems interoperable.
“One of the fundamental challenges that we have is that there is so much fragmentation and so much friction on the regulatory side of things,” he said.
The AU official said harmonised rules were necessary because Africa’s payment ecosystem spans 55 AU member states and about 40 central banks.
This, he said, made common standards and regulatory understanding essential for cross-border payments and financial inclusion.
Olomo urged journalists to play a stronger role in explaining both the opportunities and gaps in Africa’s digital payment ecosystem.
He said reporting should identify challenges facing users, examine proposed solutions and establish whether such solutions were actually working.
“Your task is extremely important; the media can help people understand the challenges and solutions shaping financial inclusion,” he said.
On her part, Jacqueline Jumah, Director of Advocacy and Capacity Development at AfricaNenda Foundation, said the organisation’s three-year regulatory harmonisation initiative had moved from advocacy towards implementation following consultations, research and a feasibility study across the continent.
Jumah said the study found that a harmonised regulatory framework was legally, technically, institutionally and economically feasible.
She, however, noted that the framework would require binding continental rules, interoperable instant payment systems, appropriate governance and phased implementation.
Jumah said the evidence pointed to eight priority areas for harmonisation, including licensing and passporting, interoperability standards, anti-money laundering and customer due diligence, and consumer protection.
She also listed data governance, supervisory cooperation, settlement and liquidity, and a binding African Union instrument among the priority areas.
“Without an enforceable continental basis, the other seven can remain voluntary and uneven,” she said.
She said the proposed roadmap envisaged a phased process rather than a “big bang” launch, taking into account the different levels of digital maturity among African countries.
Jude Fuhnwi, Media Lead at the foundation, said the workshop was designed partly in response to recurring gaps in journalists’ understanding of instant payment systems.
He said journalists needed sufficient technical knowledge to interpret payment data, interrogate claims by regulators and service providers, and explain the implications of payment systems to the wider public.
“We need to do something for journalists to be able to digest what we are talking about when we say instant payment systems,” Fuhnwi said.
He added that the goal was to help journalists report more accurately.
Fuhnwi said the media should not merely reproduce press releases or official claims about newly launched payment systems, but should examine how such systems worked for people outside major cities.
He cited the experience of journalists reporting on payment systems in rural areas, where network access, affordability and usability could determine whether a system was genuinely inclusive.
“As journalists, you have a wider audience. Media can bring the experiences of consumers into policy conversations that often involve only regulators and technical experts,” he said.
According to him, AfricaNenda wanted its emerging media network to provide journalists with learning opportunities, access to experts and sources, and opportunities to develop independent story ideas rather than function as a public relations platform.
Sabine Mensah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, urged journalists to use their reporting to amplify the experiences of consumers who were often absent from policy discussions.
She said the media could help make the digital finance ecosystem more responsive by bringing the voices of people affected by its successes and failures into public debate.
“We can leverage the media as an anchor to amplify what’s happening in the digital finance ecosystem,” Mensah said.
She added that journalists could also “be the voice of the consumers that we don’t see every day.”
NAN reports that the three-day engagement ended with the absorption of participants into the Africa Media Coalition Advancing Inclusive Instant Payment.
The workshop also examined AfricaNenda’s framework for assessing the inclusivity of instant payment systems, with systems broadly classified as basic, progressing or mature. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Victor Adeoti
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