By The North Journals Staff Writer
Every day, billions of dollars crisscross African borders—fueling commerce, supporting families through remittances, and financing governments. But behind these transactions lies a fragile, overburdened infrastructure that is being pushed to its limits by escalating digital threats and increasing transaction volumes.
In a compelling thought piece titled “How Money Moves Across Borders – and Why Securing It Matters,” Johnson Idesoh, Group Chief Information and Technology Officer at Absa, warns that while the visible face of cross-border payments—like a seamless mobile banking app—appears slick and sophisticated, it masks a high-stakes security battle raging beneath.
“Each transaction,” Idesoh writes, “passes through more than fifty regulatory environments, is denominated in dozens of currencies, and relies on institutions with widely varying levels of digital maturity.”
According to Ernst & Young (EY), cross-border payment flows globally reached $190 trillion in 2023 and are projected to soar past $290 trillion by 2030. Africa accounts for a growing share of this, though precise figures remain elusive. Annual remittance flows alone are estimated at $54 billion, with far larger sums moving through corporate payments, trade financing, and government transactions.
Yet most African cross-border payments still depend on infrastructure located outside the continent. Idesoh cites African Development Bank data showing that over 80% of payments originating from African banks are routed offshore for clearing and settlement—a process that not only adds latency but raises costs and jurisdictional complexity.
To fix this, regional initiatives like the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) and the SADC Integrated Regional Electronic Settlement System (SIRESS) have emerged. However, Idesoh notes, “adoption remains uneven, constrained by limited currency convertibility and operational fragmentation.”
He argues that securing the future of African cross-border payments must begin with redefining security itself—making it both mobile-native and intelligence-driven.
“Security must be engineered for portability,” he explains, especially in environments where mobile usage vastly outpaces formal infrastructure. Traditional security assumptions—like device trust anchored to fixed locations or browser sessions—no longer apply. Instead, modern systems must adapt to SIM swaps, handset changes, and low-data conditions without compromising safety.
This is where adaptive authentication becomes crucial. Rather than relying solely on static credentials or binary checks, it employs machine learning to analyze behavioral patterns, device signatures, and biometric cues. “Inclusion and intelligence must converge,” Idesoh says, arguing that this approach can extend secure services even to users with thin or informal financial histories.
Still, identity verification is just one step. Once authenticated, transactions must navigate a complex web of legacy infrastructure, bilateral payment agreements, and limited interoperability. While emerging technologies like distributed ledgers and artificial intelligence offer promise—improving transparency, auditability, and anomaly detection—they also raise new questions about regulation and governance.
“Distributed consensus risks becoming a decentralised opacity,” Idesoh cautions, warning that without clear standards for liability and identity verification, new tech could obscure more than it reveals. Similarly, while AI is already used to detect fraud and forecast liquidity needs, its effectiveness hinges on access to clean, structured data and regulatory support.
Ultimately, Idesoh argues that the next chapter of African financial integration won’t be written by technology alone.
“It demands operational standards, shared definitions of risk, and governance frameworks capable of enforcing them across borders,” he writes. “In a system this complex, security architecture must be designed to anticipate risk, not react to it.”
As Africa’s digital and financial ecosystems deepen, the stakes have never been higher. How the continent secures its financial arteries today may determine not only the cost and speed of tomorrow’s transactions—but the integrity of the entire economic system that supports them.
