Blockchain company Ripple has partnered with African fintech Chipper Cash to enable faster, blockchain-powered payments into Africa, the latest play in the intensifying race to fix cross-border payment inefficiencies in Africa.

Africa’s $53 billion remittance market is broken: fees remain high, settlement is slow and transparency is limited.

Ripple Payments runs on the XRP Ledger, where users can send and receive multiple currencies. It’s unclear whether Chipper’s integration will use XRP, stablecoins, or both.

“Our partnership with Chipper Cash marks a key milestone in the expansion of Ripple’s business in Africa. Consumers and businesses across the continent are increasingly recognizing the potential of blockchain technology,”
— Reece Merrick, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, Ripple,

Chipper isn’t new to crypto. It supports account funding with stablecoins like USDC and USDT across Ethereum, Solana, Base, and other chains.

Stablecoins are emerging as core infrastructure for payments in Africa and other emerging markets; they are no longer just a crypto experiment.