{"id":2000105177,"date":"2026-03-12T10:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000105177"},"modified":"2026-03-15T14:20:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:20:58","slug":"kenya-and-rwanda-central-banks-sign-mou-to-ease-cross-border-payment-licensing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kenya-and-rwanda-central-banks-sign-mou-to-ease-cross-border-payment-licensing\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya and Rwanda central banks sign MoU to ease cross-border payment licensing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Signed on the sidelines of the Inclusive FinTech Forum 2026 in Kigali on Wednesday, the new framework aims to reduce duplicative regulatory processes while maintaining strong oversight, allowing licensed PSPs to operate seamlessly in both Kenya and Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By promoting mutual recognition of licensing regimes, the initiative is expected to foster competition, encourage innovation, and accelerate the delivery of digital financial services across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MoU, the partners said, aligns with the East Africa Community Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan (EAC Masterplan), which envisions a more integrated, efficient, and inclusive regional payments ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the Masterplan\u2019s key priorities is to create a mutual recognition system for PSP licensing across partner states, addressing the regulatory fragmentation that has historically limited cross-border payment expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda\u2019s central bank termed the new agreement a \u201cmajor step toward stronger competition, greater innovation, and faster cross-border digital financial services under robust regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Central Bank of Kenya reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening regional collaboration and ensuring that national payment infrastructures meet the evolving needs of the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement is expected to pave the way for a more connected East African payments landscape, benefiting businesses and consumers alike by facilitating faster, safer, and more accessible digital financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Signed on the sidelines of the Inclusive FinTech Forum 2026 in Kigali on Wednesday, the new framework aims to reduce duplicative regulatory processes while maintaining strong oversight, allowing licensed PSPs to operate seamlessly in both Kenya and Rwanda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Licence Passporting Framework for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), marking a significant step toward easier cross-border financial services in East Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000105178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[151,72],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000105177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-editors-choice","tag-featured-news-home","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000105178,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":2985,"height":1990,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","width":1024,"height":683},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HDIfmBzW8AAf2Vt-1.jpeg","width":2985,"height":1990}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000105177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000105183,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000105177\/revisions\/2000105183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000105178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000105177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000105177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000105177"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000105177"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000105177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}