Vera Songwe said stablecoins are increasingly used across Africa as a cheaper, faster remittance option while speaking in Davos on Thursday at a World Economic Forum panel (at a World Economic Forum panel). “remittances becoming ‘more important than aid’ on the continent,” she added.
Traditional money transfer services often cost about $6 for every $100 sent, making cross-border payments expensive and slow. Stablecoins cut fees and settlement times, letting people and small businesses move funds in minutes instead of days.
Songwe said inflation has topped 20% in “about 12 to 15 countries” since the COVID-19 pandemic, and stablecoins let users store value in less inflation-exposed currencies. “650 million people don’t have access to a bank account in Africa. With a smartphone you have access to stablecoins, so you can save in a currency that is not exposed to fluctuations of inflation and making you poor.”
She named Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa as countries with the highest stablecoin use, and said most transactions come from small and medium enterprises. This pattern suggests stablecoins are acting as a tool for broader financial inclusion.
Songwe is chair and founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
A Chainalysis report shows Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in onchain value from July 2024 to June 2025, a roughly 52% year-over-year increase.
National responses are diverging as adoption grows. Ghana legalized crypto trading with a Virtual Asset Service Providers bill, Nigeria now requires crypto providers to link transactions to tax IDs, and the South African Reserve Bank has flagged crypto and stablecoins as emerging financial stability risks.
