AFRICA TECH SIGNAL — THE INFRASTRUCTURE HEISTAFRICA TECH SIGNAL — THE INFRASTRUCTURE HEIST
Article #6 | Part 5 of 8 · Publish: Africa Tech Signal | Vol. 12, 20
Ali Mohammed
Chief Executive Officer @ Ramad Bridge LLC | Building Payment Corridors in East Africa
May 7, 2026
Here is a number that should be on every central banker's desk in Africa.
In 2025, stablecoins moved $33 trillion around the world. Not $33 billion. Trillion.
That is more than Visa. More than Mastercard. More than most national payment systems on earth. It is also an 83% jump from what they moved in 2024.
And across Sub-Saharan Africa alone, $205 billion of that value moved in just one year — up 52% from the year before.
Most of it moved outside any central bank's view.
This is not just a technology story. It is a money story. And it is playing out differently in every African country.
Let us go through them.
NIGERIANIGERIA
Nigeria is the biggest story on the continent.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, Nigerians moved $92 billion in digital assets. Most of that was in dollar stablecoins — USDT and USDC — used not for speculation but for survival.
The naira lost more than 60% of its value against the dollar between 2023 and early 2025. Inflation stayed above 20%. A Nigerian saving in naira was losing money every single month just by doing nothing.
So 95% of crypto-active Nigerians said in surveys they prefer receiving payments in stablecoins over the naira.
Not sometimes. Almost always.
Nigeria is fighting back with real tools. In 2025, it launched cNGN — the country's first regulated naira-backed stablecoin — under joint oversight from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It ranked 6th globally in crypto adoption. It formed a 15-member task force to study stablecoin policy.
Nigeria is not waiting anymore. But the scale of what it is competing with is enormous.
KENYAKENYA
Kenya processed $3.3 billion in stablecoin transactions in the year ending June 2024. That number has grown since.
In October 2025, President Ruto signed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill — giving the Central Bank of Kenya formal authority over stablecoin issuers, wallet providers, and payment processors for the first time.
Then in January 2026, M-Pesa announced a partnership with ADI Chain — a blockchain platform backed by a $240 billion UAE conglomerate. The goal: put M-Pesa's 60 million users onto blockchain-compatible rails.
That is the move. Kenya is not banning stablecoins. It is making sure its own infrastructure stays relevant by connecting to the new rails on its own terms.
Infographic: Africa crypto rankings — 1) 6th Nigeria — Global ranking in crypto adoption (Chainalysis 2024); 2) 1st Kenya — P2P exchange trade volume per capita globally; 3) 5th South Africa — Global ranking in crypto adoption (Chainalysis 2024); 4) 2nd Ethiopia — Fastest growing crypto market in Africa (2024); 5) 8th Ghana — Global ranking in crypto adoption (Chainalysis 2024)
SOMALIASOMALIA
Somalia has the most interesting situation of all.
Up to 90% of USD flows in Somalia happen outside the banking system. The economy is heavily dollarized. Mobile money already dominates daily transactions. There is almost no legacy banking infrastructure to protect or rebuild.
That is not a weakness. That is a clean slate.
Somalia has a chance to design a digital monetary system from the beginning — built for a mobile-first, diaspora-connected, young-population economy. No legacy systems to dismantle. No entrenched banking lobby to work around.
The question is whether the political will exists to move before the window closes.
Infographic: African crypto-active users hold stablecoins at 79% — Africa leads the entire world. Bar comparison: Africa 79%, Other Emerging Markets 60%, High-Income Countries 45%.
THE NUMBER THAT CONNECTS EVERYTHINGTHE NUMBER THAT CONNECTS EVERYTHING
African crypto-active users now hold stablecoins at a 79% rate. That is the highest in the world. Higher than other emerging markets at 60%. Higher than high-income countries at 45%.
Africa is not behind the curve on stablecoin adoption. Africa is ahead of it.
The question is who controls the rails that carry all of that value. Right now, the answer is mostly Tether and Circle — two private American companies.
That does not have to be the permanent answer.
But it will become the permanent answer if African central banks, regulators, and fintech builders do not move with the same speed that their citizens already are.
$33 trillion moved in 2025.
The people did not wait for permission.
Social preview card: AFRICA TECH SIGNAL | THE INFRASTRUCTURE HEIST — "Someone Is Getting Paid Every Time You Switch From Your Local Currency" — Every time you move from Naira to USDT, or Shillings to USDC, someone is taking a fee. And it's usually not an African company.
Five countries. Five different stories. Tell us yours:
A) Nigeria's cNGN approach is exactly right. Build a local stablecoin and compete on the same rails.
B) Kenya's M-Pesa model is the template. Use existing trusted infrastructure and connect it to the new rails.
C) Somalia's clean-slate opportunity is the most exciting in Africa right now. Someone needs to move on it fast.