Visa Bets on Stablecoins to Power Transfers in the DRC

Visa, M-Pesa and Onafriq are testing stablecoins in DRC to settle cross-border mobile transactions. The project aims to make transfers faster, cheaper and smoother, without necessarily changing the visible user experience. Payments continue to go through mobile money, but settlement is done in the background thanks to digital dollars.

Stablecoins enter Congolese mobile money

Stablecoins are entering a field already familiar to Congolese people: mobile money. Visa, M-Pesa and Onafriq want to test an infrastructure where cross-border payments are settled via digital assets backed by the dollar. This initiative extends experiments already conducted by Visa in stablecoin payments.

The idea is not to ask users to open a crypto wallet or manage a private key. The client continues to use a mobile money interface. The change is mainly in the financial engine that settles the transaction between partners.

For DRC, this choice is strategic. The country combines heavy use of the dollar, growing adoption of mobile money, and significant cross-border payment needs. Stablecoins can thus become a discreet but powerful technical layer.

Visa aims to reduce transfer friction

Cross-border transfers remain expensive and slow in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many operations still go through intermediary banks, with cumulative fees and sometimes long settlement delays. Stablecoins can reduce this dependence on traditional rails. A blockchain-settled transaction can be confirmed faster and at a lower cost, especially when partners already have a compliance and liquidity infrastructure.

Visa is no stranger to this field. The group has been testing the use of digital assets in its settlements for several years. The expansion to DRC shows that stablecoins are no longer just a trading topic. They are becoming a possible solution for everyday payments.

Onafriq plays an important role here. Its network connects mobile wallets, banks, and fintechs in several African countries. By combining this reach with Visa’s infrastructure, the test can observe how stablecoins work in a real environment.

Stablecoins promise speed but raise a monetary question

The main interest of stablecoins lies in their relative stability. Unlike bitcoin or ether, their value is generally indexed to a traditional currency, often the US dollar. This makes them more suitable for payments and international settlements.

In DRC, this feature is both useful and sensitive. The dollar already circulates widely in the economy. A dollar-indexed stablecoin can facilitate transactions but can also reinforce digital dollarization.

The Central Bank of Congo, on the contrary, seeks to support the use of the Congolese franc. This is where the debate becomes political. Stablecoins can improve payment efficiency while complicating monetary sovereignty efforts.

This dilemma is not unique to DRC. Several African countries observe the rise of digital dollars with caution. Nigeria, for example, already faces strong adoption of stablecoins in Africa, notably for transfers and protection against local currency depreciation.

A test that can go beyond DRC

The Congolese pilot must mainly answer a simple question: can stablecoins improve payments without complicating the end-user’s life? If the answer is yes, the model could be extended to other African markets.

Use cases are numerous. It could be reloading a mobile wallet from abroad, paying a cross-border merchant or facilitating payments between companies. In all cases, the user primarily seeks speed, cost, and reliability.

Success will however depend on several conditions. Partners must guarantee liquidity, secure flows, comply with local rules, and avoid the product being perceived as an escape towards the digital dollar.

Visa therefore proceeds cautiously, but the signal is strong. Stablecoins are no longer confined to crypto platforms. They enter payment infrastructures used by millions of people. After Visa’s tests with USDC on Solana, this experiment with M-Pesa in DRC confirms that cross-border stablecoins are becoming a major area of competition between payment networks, fintechs, and banks.