Appzone Group, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s top Fintech software company, will host captains of industries and leaders from the payment, finance and technology spaces on December 10, as it unveils the continent’s first blockchain platform for payment processing, Zone, in Lagos.
Developed by Appzone Switch, a subsidiary of Appzone Group, Zone forms the foundation of Appzone’s plans to build out Africa’s first decentralized payment network which will allow inter-bank transactions to be processed directly between banks without the involvement of any intermediary.
Speaking about the event, CEO of Appzone Switch, Mr. Uche Elendu expressed his delight in officially unveiling Zone as a decentralized blockchain-based payment infrastructure that enables real-time settlement of fiat transactions, both in-country and out-country, while also enabling the retail distribution of stable digital currencies including Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in Africa.
He further noted: “Because of the impact that the innovation will have on the payment and finance landscape in Africa, we are bringing together industry leaders across the payment, technology, and finance industries to see first-hand how the Zone platforms is positioned to power a truly cashless society.’’
In addition to core functionality like payments authorization, and real-time settlement, the team at Appzone Switch are looking to evolve the platform’s digital token for settlement into a stable Pan-African digital currency that is fully compliant, approved by central Banks, and backed by a basket of fiat currencies in Africa.
The plan is for Zone to manage stable coin wallets for regular individuals on the same distributed ledger that currently facilitates payment authorization and settlement.
With 10 commercial Banks in Nigeria already connected to the network, Zone provides Banks and Fintechs with simple APIs for various types of transactions including account-to-account transfers, merchant payments, and cash transactions at ATMs or agent locations.
The platform’s architecture achieves high through-put and record transaction success rates, while eliminating typical reconciliation issues that delay refunds to customers where necessary.
Physical attendance at the Zone unveil event is strictly by invitation but interested participants can register to attend the event online.
By connecting every financial service provider to Zone’s decentralized payment network, Appzone Switch envisions a future beyond cash where payments are frictionless and instantaneous within and between every African country so that Africa can accelerate trade and economic prosperity.
