The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) operated by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the African Union (AU), announced today, July 19, 2022 that it has achieved the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 27001 certification for its global operations.
Following an external certification audit, by an accredited certification body that was conducted on the 27th of June 2022, PAPSS was recognized as compliant to ISO27001:2013 standard.
ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard on how to manage information security. The standard was originally published jointly by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 2005 and then revised in 2013.
The framework specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS) within the context of the organization.
It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks associated with people, processes, and technology aspects to create business value and protect business image and reputation.
PAPSS has successfully completed this complex process which certifies that its business operations and technologies are aligned with international security best practices and the platform is trustworthy, secure and resilient enough to provide a high level of assurance and confidence to our stakeholders and platform users.
Mike Ogbalu III, CEO of PAPSS, said PAPSS being a Pan-African Payment Market Infrastructure, has a mandate to provide an interoperable, secure and low-cost cross-border payment infrastructure.
“The main enabler to achieve the above mandate is to build the highest levels of trust assurance with our stakeholders. In addition to that, through the continual improvement approach, this achievement will help in improving PAPSS operational efficiency and compliance with global standards ensuring the protection of company image and reputation”.
Mike Ogbalu III, CEO of PAPSS
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is a centralized Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimizing risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions.
PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘Participants’.
Afreximbank and the African Union (AU) launched the PAPSS at the Twelfth Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on July 7, 2019, in Niamey, Niger Republic, therefore adopting PAPSS as a key instrument for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Further, in its thirteenth (13th) extraordinary session, held on the December 5, 2020, the assembly of African Union recommitted and instructed the Afreximbank and the AfCFTA secretariat to finalize among others, work on the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS). The 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU, further directed the AfCFTA and Afreximbank to deploy the system to cover the entire continent.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want and entered into force on 30 May 2019. It is a high ambition trade agreement, which aims to bring together all 55 member states of the African Union. The AfCFTA is covering a market of more than 1.3 billion people, with a comprehensive scope that includes critical areas of Africa’s economy, such as digital trade and investment protection, amongst other areas.
By eliminating barriers to trade in Africa, the objective of the AfCFTA is to significantly boost intra-Africa trade, particularly trade in value-added production and trade across all services sectors of Africa’s economy.
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