Aaron Markowitz-Shulman, CFO of pan-African payments firm PawaPay, has warned that African banks are repeating their mobile money misstep by underestimating stablecoins. Two decades ago, banks dismissed mobile money as insignificant, allowing telecoms to dominate a payments ecosystem now handling around $1.4 trillion annually. Today, a similar pattern is emerging with stablecoins, which are increasingly used for cross-border settlements across Africa. Markowitz-Shulman argues that while mobile money solved local transactions, stablecoins address the costly, slow international transfer system that still relies on correspondent banks in London or New York. On-chain crypto flows in sub-Saharan Africa reached over $205 billion from mid-2024 to mid-2025, with stablecoins making up nearly 43% of that volume. He distinguishes stablecoins like USDC and USDT—dollar-collateralised instruments—from speculative assets like Bitcoin or Dogecoin, stressing that the real value lies in infrastructure, not speculation. Tether claims USDT's 2025 on-chain transfer volume will exceed $13 trillion, averaging $35 billion daily. Mastercard's up to $1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK signals growing institutional confidence. However, Markowitz-Shulman notes stablecoins do not replace cash or mobile money at the consumer level, but instead streamline the cross-border leg of payments, settling in minutes. Despite this, he warns that banks remain slow to adapt, focused on protecting existing models rather than embracing the shift.

💡 NaijaBuzz Take

Banks ignored mobile money because it didn't fit their profit model, and now they risk doing the same with stablecoins despite $205 billion in African on-chain activity. If financial institutions treat stablecoins as just another crypto fad, they may again cede control of critical payment infrastructure to non-bank players. The Mastercard-BVNK deal shows where the real institutional interest lies — in rails, not retail hype.

Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →