ARUSHA, Tanzania — August 24, 2026 — The East African Community (EAC) is taking another step toward deeper financial integration by establishing three Technical Working Groups to implement the EAC Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan.
The working groups bring together representatives from the central banks of all eight EAC Partner States, along with the EAC Secretariat and development partners. Their work will focus on turning the regional payment strategy into practical systems that can make cross-border payments between EAC countries faster, more affordable, and more efficient.
The Masterplan includes 20 strategic initiatives covering governance, regulation, payment infrastructure, financial inclusion and capacity building.
One of the most significant proposals is the creation of a regional “passporting” mechanism for payment-service providers. Under such a framework, a provider licensed in one EAC country could potentially offer authorized payment services in other Partner States, subject to agreed regional requirements.
Breaking Down Financial Borders
Cross-border payments remain a major challenge for individuals and businesses operating across Africa. Different national payment systems, regulations, currencies and financial-service requirements can increase the cost and complexity of sending money from one country to another.
A more interconnected EAC payment system could particularly benefit small businesses, cross-border traders, migrant workers and families receiving remittances.
For businesses operating in several East African markets, improved payment interoperability could also reduce transaction barriers and make regional commerce easier.
The initiative includes Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, bringing together an increasingly large regional market.
Building Infrastructure for EAC Integration
The payment Masterplan has significance beyond banking and financial technology. Efficient regional payments are an important part of creating a genuinely integrated economy.
The EAC has long pursued integration through its Customs Union and Common Market, with deeper monetary integration remaining a longer-term objective. Allowing money to move more efficiently across borders could help connect those ambitions to the everyday activities of citizens and businesses.
For an East African trader, for example, regional integration becomes much more practical when a payment from a customer across the border can be completed quickly and affordably rather than passing through multiple costly systems.
The Technical Working Groups will now have the responsibility of addressing the regulatory, technological and institutional differences that remain between Partner States.
If successfully implemented, the EAC Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan could provide something essential to East African integration: a financial network capable of allowing money to move across the region more easily alongside people, goods and services.