The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has launched its new Digital Retail Payment Platform (DRPP), designed to enable instant, secure, and affordable cross-border payments across member states. The initiative was unveiled during COMESA’s 24th Heads of State and Government Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, with officials emphasizing the urgent need for regulatory and tax harmonization to ensure the platform’s success.

The DRPP aims to simplify transactions by allowing individuals and businesses to make payments in their local currencies. The pilot phase will begin with the Zambia–Malawi corridor, offering a model for wider implementation across the region.

Speaking during the launch, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade, and Industry, Honorable Leiting Njoroge, described the platform as a critical tool for improving regional trade and economic inclusion. He highlighted that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up about 80 percent of businesses and provide nearly 60 percent of employment in COMESA member states.

“By starting with the Malawi–Zambia corridor, we are demonstrating how traders can exchange value seamlessly without relying on scarce foreign currency,” said Njoroge. “This platform reduces costs, shields businesses from currency volatility, and most importantly, opens the door for SMEs, women, and the youth to participate more meaningfully in regional trade.”

Zambia’s Permanent Secretary for Technology and Science, Dr. Brilliant Habeenzu, described the DRPP as a major step toward simplifying regional payment systems. He explained that many small businesses currently face challenges when trading across borders due to high transaction costs and delays.

“This is really a program that is aimed at wanting to ensure that our payment system within the COMESA region is actually simplified,” said Dr. Habeenzu. “We are going to be using a digital platform that makes payments easy, fast, and less costly. In a nutshell, we want to make it simplified.”

He added that despite challenges such as limited ICT connectivity in some areas, the timing of the launch was critical. “We will not have any other good time. Therefore, if we don’t do it now, we will not be able to grow our economy,” he stated.

The platform’s success, however, depends on broader policy cooperation among member states. Officials acknowledged that the next phase will require alignment of regulatory and fiscal frameworks to support seamless cross-border operations.

Mr. Anthony Undi, Board Chair of Zamtel, the Zambian mobile network operator implementing the pilot phase, said the DRPP represents a significant technological advancement for regional financial inclusion. However, he cautioned that regulatory inconsistencies could pose challenges if not addressed promptly.

“We will need as COMESA to also look at how harmonized our systems are, because there are issues of taxation, there are issues of foreign exchange controls. There are a number of regulatory issues that we have to look at for this system to work very well,” said Undi.

He explained that the DRPP enables users to send money instantly across borders, a capability not previously available among regional mobile network operators. The system allows payments in local currency, automatically converting to the recipient’s currency through the platform.

The initiative reflects COMESA’s broader agenda to promote digital integration and reduce trade barriers across its 21 member states. With the platform now in its trial phase, efforts will focus on achieving political and legal coordination to enable full operationalization of the digital payment system across borders.

Zambia was represented at the summit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Honorable Mulambo Haimbe, S.C., M.P. The event also marked a notable milestone for Zamtel, which has achieved financial recovery after years of insolvency. The company’s turnaround has been attributed to debt restructuring and alignment with President Hakainde Hichilema’s national vision for a digitally driven economy.