Implementing Inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure and Instant Payment Systems in Africa

From September 28 to 30, 2026, the AfricaNenda Foundation and Salzburg Global will convene a special strategic retreat focused on Implementing Inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure and Instant Payment Systems in Africa.

The Forum will take place at Schloss Leopoldskron, the historic home of Salzburg Global, in Salzburg, Austria and will convene up to twenty-five select African Central Bank Governors, relevant industry leaders, and experts in the field to explore strategic pathways for the transformation of safe and inclusive digital and instant payment systems across the African continent. The discussion will be held under Chatham House Rule to allow for open and exploratory conversation.

This retreat is designed as a high-level, peer-to-peer dialogue focused on advancing cross-national collaboration to develop, implement, and support the uptake of digital financial infrastructure and safe, instant, inclusive payment systems. Participants will focus on how to design and build safe and inclusive digital and instant payment infrastructure and systems, exploring innovations and examining strategic pathways for the transformation, and connection, of Africa’s digital and instant payment systems.

The retreat will concentrate on five strategic themes directly relevant to the transformation of Africa's payment ecosystem:

Removing Barriers to Inclusive Instant Payment Systems
Participants will engage in candid, peer-to-peer discussions about the challenges hindering the rollout of secure, efficient and inclusive instant payment systems across Africa, including:

• Infrastructure constraints and technical barriers
• Regulatory and legal barriers
• Policy misalignments
• Funding challenges needed to scale national payment systems
• Development of repeatable models, blueprints, and benchmarks applicable across multiple African markets

Continental Payment Policy Coordination and Regulatory Harmonization
Participants will discuss progress and opportunities for cross-border payment coordination, including:

• Regional instant payment infrastructures such as SADC TCIB, CEMAC GIMACPAY, WAEMU PI-SPI and other regional initiatives
• Continental initiatives such as PAPSS (Pan-African Payment and Settlement System)
• Collaboration among regional economic communities, the Association of African Central Banks, and the African Union
• Adaptation of global models to the African context
• Strengthening the overall architecture for cross-border payments

Linking Financial Inclusion to Economic Empowerment and Macroeconomic Outcomes
Participants will explore how inclusive payment infrastructure can support broader economic transformation:

• Supporting fiscal strategy and stimulating economic growth
• Driving job creation through digital infrastructure
• Empowering youth, women, and micro and small enterprises
• Case studies from countries that have successfully leveraged digital public infrastructure
• Cohesive integration of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and digital payment infrastructure

Governing the Next Generation of Digital Money, AI, and Financial Infrastructure
Participants will explore how emerging technologies are reshaping monetary systems, market behavior, and the boundaries of financial governance:

• Managing the rise of AI-driven autonomous agents in payments, trading, and treasury functions
• Navigating the evolving ecosystem of digital money, including CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits
• Safeguarding monetary sovereignty amid expanding private digital networks and global payment rails
• Designing regulatory and risk frameworks that address the complexity, speed, and interoperability of tokenized and AI-enabled markets
• Balancing financial inclusion and innovation with systemic stability, particularly in emerging market contexts

Long-term Continental Coordination Mechanisms
Participants will discuss future pathways for deeper collaboration, including:

• Shared infrastructure models for continental integration
• Initiatives similar to Project Nexus for accelerated interoperability
• Collaborative frameworks for cross-border payments
• Foundation for a more permanent continental dialogue or platform
• Mechanisms to ignite deeper transformation of Africa's payment ecosystem

The purpose of this retreat is to help to ensure that decision makers have access to the evidence, technologies, regulatory guidance, and technical assistance to facilitate safe and inclusive digital public infrastructure, including inclusive Instant Payment Systems.

The retreat aims to engage a diverse group of select African Central Bank Governors and experts from other regions with experience of leading the transformation of safe and inclusive digital payment systems.

This two-day retreat will:

• Provide space for critical reflection on the transformation of digital payment systems and financial infrastructure, including lessons from emerging technologies, AI, and tokenized finance
• Enable cross-sectoral dialogue among central banks, industry leaders, and experts on financial technologies to address shared challenges in governing digital money, instant payments, and interoperable financial systems
• Explore the design of practical frameworks, policy approaches, and implementation pathways to support safe, inclusive, and scalable instant payment systems and digital public infrastructure
• Support a network of African Central Bank leaders and collaborators to advance coordinated action on cross-border payments, regulatory harmonization, and the future of safe and inclusive instant payment systems and digital finance across Africa