Stablecoins were supposed to make cross-border money simpler but, in Africa, they may instead be creating a new layer of middlemen.
As digital dollars move across the continent, correspondent banks traditionally responsible for settlement are increasingly being joined or replaced by wallet providers, liquidity firms, foreign exchange providers and payment companies connecting stablecoins to local currencies and financial systems.
That raises a new infrastructure question: is stablecoin adoption eliminating financial intermediation, or simply moving it elsewhere in the payment chain?
In an interview with ITWeb Africa, Maksym Sakharov, group CEO and co-founder of WeFi, said stablecoins can remove some intermediaries from cross-border transactions but are unlikely to eliminate intermediation altogether.
Correspondent banking combines settlement, liquidity, foreign exchange and market access across institutional relationships. Stablecoins can make settlement more direct, Sakharov said, but liquidity, foreign exchange, regulatory compliance and connections to domestic payment systems remain essential.
"The existing intermediaries will naturally seek to extend their role into this new environment," Sakharov said, adding that new specialists may emerge where they provide measurable value.
The shift is already visible across Africa. Chainalysis found Nigeria received more than $92.1 billion in crypto value in the 12 months to June 2025, nearly three times South Africa's total, and identified significant stablecoin use in high-value transactions linked to trade between Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Nigeria has emerged as a major hub for stablecoin-driven cross-border activity amid currency and foreign exchange pressures, accounting for roughly 60% of Sub-Saharan Africa's stablecoin inflows, according to the International Monetary Fund in June 2026.
Stablecoins also made up more than 65% of Nigeria's crypto inflows in 2024.
Robert Cousins, head of global markets digital product at Absa Corporate and Investment Bank, has previously said stablecoins can make settlement more efficient than traditional correspondent banking, while warning that real-time settlement introduces additional liquidity risks.
The infrastructure challenge is therefore not simply moving assets faster. Blockchain cannot by itself create naira, rand or cedi liquidity, provide foreign exchange conversion, satisfy compliance requirements or connect digital value to domestic payment rails.
Sakharov made a similar point to ITWeb Africa earlier this year, arguing that sustainable stablecoin adoption across the continent depends on reliable liquidity, trusted off-ramps, secure custody and clear accountability, not just the appeal of the technology itself.
As Sakharov puts it, the next challenge is less about settlement than coordination. Africa may not be entering a post-intermediary era, but a contest over who controls the new layers connecting digital dollars to local economies.
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