$56 billion. That was the amount that flowed into Sub-Saharan Africa as remittances in 2024, according to World Bank estimates. Yet, moving money across Africa still often means routing payments through correspondent banks, delays, foreign exchange (FX) costs, and fees that can reach double digits.
Ryan Kirkley, co-founder and chief executive officer of Global Settlement Network (GSX), a US-based blockchain infrastructure company, believes those inefficiencies are creating an opening for a new generation of financial infrastructure built on blockchain.
“Some African economies already run on stablecoin rails,” Kirkley told TechCabal in an interview in May. “The question now is whether countries build infrastructure to control that flow themselves.”
African governments, fintechs, and central banks are increasingly seeking alternatives to fragmented payment rails and reliance on dollar-backed stablecoins. Uganda has emerged as one of the continent’s boldest experiments.
Founded in Miami, the United States, GSX entered Africa in 2023, betting that governments building new payment infrastructure would adopt blockchain-based settlement rails faster than more mature markets. Uganda has since become its flagship project.
