(Bloomberg) -- A pan-African group backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors is targeting universal access to payment systems on the continent by 2030, by helping 15 African nations to install instant payment platforms over the next three to five years. 

Half of the continent still doesn’t have an instant-payment system, according to advocacy group AfricaNenda Deputy Chief Executive Officer Sabine Mensah. 

“We still have a long way to go to make sure that this is available to all,” she said in an interview. “When we talk about expansion, it is with regards to transactions processed year over year.”

Africa has 32 instant payment systems — 29 are national systems and three are regional systems facilitating cross-border transactions. The platforms collectively processed almost 32 billion transactions valued at $1.2 trillion in 2023, according to Mensah.

AfricaNenda also provides technical support to central banks, government agencies and lobby groups to accelerate financial inclusion toward universal access by 2030. About 400 million adults in Africa don’t have access to financial products, Mensah said. 

“There is urgency of making this investment now because as we are waiting, the population is also growing. So if we’re not including more, the gap can grow bigger,” she said.

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