CEO of Kora Reports African Businesses Are Embracing Stablecoins to Minimize Payment Delays

According to Dickson Nsofor, CEO of Kora, African businesses have increasingly adopted stablecoins over the past five years to tackle issues related to cross-border payment delays, access to dollars, and settlement costs.

Dickson Nsofor, the CEO of Kora, a pan-African payment infrastructure platform, shared with crypto.news that businesses are increasingly viewing stablecoins as a viable solution to the payment challenges that complicate trade across African nations.

Based on his experience in developing the company and collaborating with merchants, Nsofor highlighted commercial payments, supplier settlements, and cross-border payouts as sectors with rising demand. He observed that interest peaks in situations where businesses encounter slow transfers, exorbitant costs, or challenges in securing liquidity.

Stablecoins aid in tackling supplier payment delays and dollar access

Before establishing Kora, Nsofor operated a hardware business in Nigeria, where paying a manufacturer in China took between 10 to 14 days, as he recalled. The transfers went through multiple correspondent banks, and any errors could extend that waiting time further.

For companies aiming to trade or expand into new markets, he emphasized that the ability to receive and settle funds efficiently is paramount before any other financial activities.

“They are addressing a real-world problem first. Businesses are discovering an efficient method to transfer and settle value across borders, establishing a foundation for further financial activities.”

Nsofor believes that stablecoins can offer a dollar-based settlement solution for companies grappling with currency conversion issues, limited access to dollars, and protracted international transfer times.

In Africa, a payment transaction between two markets often traverses several banks and necessitates two currency conversions, he elaborated. Utilizing stablecoins can expedite that process and enable payment providers to manage dollar liquidity centrally, converting to local currency only when a recipient requires a payout.

This model can minimize the necessity for providers to maintain separate pools of ready funds across different markets, he added.

Nigeria serves as an indicator of the digital-asset activity in the region. In its September 2025 report, Chainalysis stated that the country received more than $92.1 billion in cryptocurrency value from July 2024 to June 2025. The report also noted routine multimillion-dollar stablecoin transfers facilitating trade, energy, and merchant transactions between Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

While discussing demand, Nsofor pointed to the transaction volume in Nigeria, although the Chainalysis report included all cryptocurrency activity, not limited to stablecoin transactions.

Payment savings reliant on conversion and local payout systems

Regarding the settlement process, Nsofor stated that stablecoins can transfer value nearly instantaneously and at a fraction of the cost of traditional cross-border services.

Establishing conventional payment connections can also be a time-consuming process, explained Nsofor, as businesses often need to build banking relationships, settlement structures, and integrations with local networks in each respective country.

Once compliance issues are addressed, he noted, a stablecoin service can provide a more straightforward pathway into various markets without requiring businesses to develop every payment flow independently. According to Nsofor, Kora aims to integrate fiat and stablecoins within a unified payment infrastructure.

A study conducted on July 31 painted a more nuanced picture of the costs involved. Banca d’Italia’s stablecoin remittance research analyzed transfers of 200 USDC across ten corridors linking Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan. The researchers found total costs varying from 0.30% to nearly 9%, largely due to funding, withdrawals, and currency conversion fees.

In this study, South African routes required one to two business days due to delays in standard bank transfers at the local currency level. Conversely, routes supported by local instant-payment systems could be completed in under 20 minutes, as discovered by the researchers.

The authors cautioned that their limited sample of transactions and the use of a single stablecoin meant that these findings might not apply universally across every provider or corridor.

Stablecoins require banking and mobile-money connections

For widespread adoption among mobile wallets, banks, and merchants, Nsofor emphasized the importance of interoperability, or the ability of diverse payment systems to connect with one another.

“Africa doesn’t need stablecoins to replace mobile money, banks, or local payment systems. It requires infrastructure that can interlink them.”

He elaborated that providers must manage conversion between tokens and local currencies, ensure liquidity, and reconcile transactions across varying systems. Even when a stablecoin facilitates cross-border settlements, recipients still need their funds transferred into a bank account, mobile wallet, or merchant system.

From a regulatory standpoint, Nsofor highlighted the necessity for operators to obtain appropriate licenses in each market, conduct customer and business identity verifications, implement anti-money laundering measures, and monitor transactions.

Additionally, compliant conversion capabilities between stablecoins and local currencies are crucial. Nsofor also advocated for frameworks that would allow regulatory approvals to span across African markets, streamlining the operations for compliant crypto and stablecoin businesses.

According to him, maintaining commercial relationships is equally vital. Providers need partnerships with banks, mobile-money operators, liquidity suppliers, and payment allies to facilitate money transfers using local systems.

For Kora, he described the service as providing “connections,” enabling businesses to reach more markets through a single infrastructure rather than establishing distinct payment arrangements in each country.

US regulations and foreign issuers create distinct dependencies

When asked whether the lack of settled US legislation gives African payment firms a competitive edge, Nsofor remarked that the opportunity hinges on customizing stablecoins to suit African business needs, rather than on the speed of American legislative processes.

Official Senate records indicate that the CLARITY Act faced procedural defeat on Sep. 15, with 49 senators supporting cloture on the motion to proceed, while 50 opposed it and one was absent. The motion required 60 votes and was not a final vote on the market-structure bill.

Projects linked to US payments have also sought routes into Africa. A partnership announced on May 7 between Bakkt and Zoth proposed US-linked stablecoin payment corridors connecting the United States with South Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Zoth’s announcement stated that the collaboration would operate under Bakkt Financial Solutions I, LLC’s licensing structure as an authorized agent.

Nsofor flagged Nigeria as one of the initial US-linked routes and noted that Bakkt’s licensing infrastructure includes money-transmitter licenses, FinCEN registration, and a New York BitLicense.

Concerning African enterprises that utilize global tokens, Nsofor cautioned that dependence on dollar-backed assets and issuers from outside the continent introduces risks that extend beyond local payment operations.

In his view, factors like reserve backing, redemption practices, regulatory oversight, and ongoing access can all be influenced by circumstances or decisions outside the African markets where the tokens are in circulation. He stressed the necessity for local providers to develop infrastructures that allow businesses to utilize those assets securely while also establishing regulatory frameworks for their management.