M-Pesa, Visa and Onafriq Launch Stablecoin Payment Pilot in DRC

For the Africa–Europe corridor, the trial is notable because remittances and cross-border commerce remain expensive and slow through traditional rails. A working stablecoin layer tied to established players like Visa and Onafriq could offer a template for cheaper settlement between African users and counterparts abroad, though the pilot is still at an early stage and its terms have not been detailed publicly.

Regulatory Shakeup in Nigeria

In the same Techpoint Digest, the outlet reported that Nigeria's central bank has revoked the licences of several fintech operators, naming NowNow, Sycamore, and OurPass. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken an increasingly assertive stance toward the country's fast-growing fintech sector, and the removal of these licences underscores the regulatory pressure companies face as authorities tighten oversight.

Licence revocations can force affected firms to halt regulated activities or restructure, and they send a signal to the wider ecosystem about compliance expectations. Techpoint Africa did not specify the full reasoning behind each revocation, but the move adds to a period of heightened scrutiny for Nigerian financial startups.

Telecom Moves Across Borders

The digest also flagged a shift in the telecom landscape, with Zain expanding into Syria following MTN's exit from that market. The change highlights how operators continue to reshuffle their footprints, with one carrier stepping in as another withdraws.

Taken together, the three developments point to an African tech sector in flux: payment giants are probing new digital-currency infrastructure, regulators are enforcing stricter fintech standards, and telecom operators are recalibrating their geographic bets. The stablecoin pilot in the DRC, in particular, will be watched closely by observers of the Africa–Europe payments corridor, where the promise of faster, lower-cost transfers has yet to be fully realised.

As reported by Techpoint Africa, further details on the scope, timeline, and outcomes of the M-Pesa and Visa pilot remain to be seen, and the coming months should clarify whether the trial expands beyond its initial testing phase.

Visa says between 60% and 70% of online transactions across its network now rely on tokenisation, signalling a shift in how digital payments are secured.