Rwanda and Tanzania have begun technical talks in Kigali to link their national retail payment switches, Tanzania’s TIPS and Rwanda’s RSwitch, in a move expected to enable instant, low-cost cross-border money transfers.
The initiative is part of the East African Community (EAC)’s push toward a regional instant payment ecosystem that would allow individuals and businesses to send and receive money across borders in real time, directly from bank accounts or mobile money wallets.
EAC Principal IT Officer Engineer Daniel Murenzi said the work marks a major step in regional payment integration, while the Bank of Tanzania’s Fabian Ladislaus Kasole reaffirmed the commitment to improving cross-border efficiency and financial inclusion.
The linkage forms the core of a Proof of Concept that will later be expanded to other EAC Partner States, laying the foundation for a unified regional digital payments market.
Supported by the World Bank–funded Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project, the effort includes harmonising policies, strengthening cybersecurity, and improving digital financial infrastructure to ensure safe, seamless transactions across the region.
The technical meeting, running from November 10–14 in Kigali, brings together central banks, payment system operators, AfrikaNenda, the Mojaloop Foundation, and the EAC Secretariat to finalise interoperability, legal alignment, and operational frameworks.
–ChannelAfrica/EAC–
