Stablecoin adoption in Africa is growing because the use case is practical, says Maksym Sakharov, group chief executive officer and co-founder of Deobanking infrastructure provider WeFi.
In markets where people and businesses face high transfer costs, slow settlement, currency pressure, or limited access to dollar-denominated value, stablecoins offer a flexible way to move and hold value, Sakharov said.
This demand is driven by remittances, freelancer income, small and medium enterprise trade, merchant settlement, and cross-border commerce, rather than speculation alone, he added.
The commentary comes as stablecoin adoption accelerates across the continent, with markets such as Nigeria and South Africa driving transaction volume.
Industry analysts attribute this shift to persistent inflation, local currency depreciation, and high remittance fees, with users relying on dollar-pegged tokens like USDT and USDC for real-time payments, corporate treasury management, and hedging against local currency volatility.
According to previous ITWeb Africa reporting, stablecoins now account for over 40% of total cryptocurrency transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa, transitioning from speculative trading into core commercial payment infrastructure.
However, this growth has drawn close scrutiny from regional monetary authorities; the South African Reserve Bank recently identified stablecoins as an emerging risk to national financial stability, while National Treasury’s proposed draft Capital Flow Management Regulations seek to tighten cross-border oversight.
Sakharov said: “The next phase of adoption will not be uniform across the continent. It will grow fastest in corridors where the payment problem is most visible: importers paying overseas suppliers, digital businesses receiving international income, families moving money across borders, and merchants looking for clearer settlement.
“In these cases, the value of stablecoins is not abstract. They can reduce settlement delays, make payment status easier to track, and give users a more predictable way to access international value.”
However, sustainable adoption depends on more than demand, as stablecoins still require reliable liquidity, trusted off-ramps, secure custody, fraud controls, consumer protection, and clear accountability, Sakharov cautions.
He explained: “Regulators should not ignore the activity already taking place, but the answer is not simply to allow stablecoin use to grow without structure. Africa needs safer access points, better monitoring, compliance standards, and rules that protect users without cutting them off from tools they already find useful.”
From WeFi’s perspective as a Deobanking infrastructure provider, Sakharov said: “stablecoins become most useful when they are connected to familiar financial experiences, fiat access, compliance-aware infrastructure, and practical payment workflows.
“The real opportunity is to make digital value easier to receive, move, use, and convert in the environments where people and businesses already manage money. Africa’s stablecoin story will be decided by usability, trust, and whether the technology solves real payment problems at scale.”
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