{
  "id": 11204334,
  "title": "Pan-African fintech Kora adds stablecoins to its payment infrastructure",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/pan-african-fintech-kora-adds-stablecoins-to-its-payment",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-01T13:23:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCabal",
    "slug": "techcabal",
    "url": "https://techcabal.com/2026/10/01/kora-sees-stablecoins-as-a-way-around-cross-border-payment-costs/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nigerian fintech Kora has introduced One Rail, a service that incorporates stablecoin payment and settlement options into its existing network, enabling merchants in supported African markets to accept USDT and USDC payments, convert between assets, and settle funds to various accounts. Over time, Kora plans to expand this offering with varying functionalities depending on the market and enabled payment rails. The adoption of stablecoins for cross-border payments is on the rise, with African fintechs like Onafriq and Fincra following this trend. Stablecoins present an alternative for payment companies to move dollar-denominated value between markets, potentially lowering working capital tied up in prefunded accounts. Kora’s CEO, Dickson Nsofor, explained that stablecoin payments operate similarly to traditional methods, eliminating the need for businesses to manage wallets, blockchain infrastructure, and separate reconciliation systems. He highlighted that transactions involving stablecoins can be completed within minutes, contrasting sharply with traditional cross-border payments that can take up to three days. In Nigeria, stablecoins have accounted for approximately 60% of inflows since 2019. The benefits of stablecoins extend beyond African markets, as US dollar-backed stablecoins are crucial for digital dollar accessibility in emerging economies facing currency shortages. However, stablecoins do not eliminate the need for local currency liquidity, as companies must still have access to local currencies for recipients requiring local payment. Kora is currently prefunding markets with limited local liquidity, such as Tanzania. Stablecoins could enable companies to hold liquidity in digital currencies, converting them into local currencies only when needed, thereby reducing capital tied up across individual markets. Despite stablecoins accounting for an estimated $390 billion in real economy payments globally in 2025—a minor fraction of the $200 trillion in annual cross-border payments, according to a 2026 BIS paper—the technology is gaining traction due to its potential to streamline cross-border transactions.",
  "summary": "For payment companies, stablecoins offer a potential alternative to move dollar-denominated value between markets.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}