Seamfix has entered a strategic partnership with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to deploy a new compliance and governance layer aimed at strengthening trust and regulatory oversight in Africa’s rapidly expanding cross-border payments market.
The deal introduces PGATE, a real-time compliance engine built by Seamfix, which links identity data, payment behaviour, and regulatory checks in a single workflow. The platform gives central banks and commercial lenders a unified view of cross-border transactions, helping them enforce thresholds and detect suspicious activity without slowing settlement speeds.
PAPSS, operated by Afreximbank and used by central banks and approved financial institutions to send and receive payments in local African currencies, will champion the tool across its network. Seamfix will build and operate PGATE under a vendor-financed arrangement, allowing PAPSS to scale regulatory infrastructure without new upfront capital.
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The partnership responds directly to rising demand from banks and regulators for stronger visibility as cross-border trade grows under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Financial institutions using PAPSS have repeatedly noted that while payment speeds have improved, compliance processes remain fragmented and often dependent on manual verification.
“Payments move fast across Africa, but trust must move with them,” said Chimezie Emewulu, group CEO of Seamfix. “This partnership helps banks and regulators see what they need to see, at the moment they need to see it, without getting in the way of the transaction.”
PGATE leverages Seamfix’s Fixiam identity engine to match and verify customers across institutions, a longstanding challenge in African payments where identity records are often siloed. The platform also provides pre-transaction screening, quota governance, consent management, and auditable post-settlement trails that regulators can review, potentially reducing compliance disputes between institutions.
Analysts say the partnership lands at a pivotal moment as Afreximbank positions PAPSS as the engine for seamless intra-African trade settlement. Many African businesses still rely on correspondent banking routes outside the continent, adding cost, delay, and exposure to foreign currency risk. A compliance-first architecture, they argue, could accelerate adoption of PAPSS by lowering the risk profile of cross-border flows.
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For Seamfix, the deal extends its footprint in regulatory and identity infrastructure across banking, telecoms, and government sectors. The company, co-founded by Emewulu and Chibuzor Onwurah, was built on the premise that identity is a fundamental right and a prerequisite for economic participation, an ethos reflected in the PGATE framework, which connects payments to verifiable identities in real-time.
Seamfix and PAPSS will initiate joint stakeholder engagements before a proof-of-concept with selected central banks and commercial banks. If successful, PGATE could become the standard compliance layer across PAPSS corridors, shaping how African regulators and payment providers monitor and manage cross-border risks.
With AfCFTA’s success hinging in part on trusted, low-friction payments, the partnership positions both organisations to influence the next phase of Africa’s financial integration, where speed and regulatory assurance are no longer competing priorities but embedded in a single system.