India in talks to share UPI digital payment experience with three more African nations

India is reported to be in negotiations with Kenya, Mozambique and Namibia to help the African nations develop digital payment systems similar to its Universal Payments Interface (UPI) platform.

According to a Mint report, which cites unnamed people familiar with the matter, the move is part of India’s continuous push for the effective development and use of digital public infrastructure by developing nations.

This is one advocacy the country has been taking advantage of its G20 presidency to make, as its UPI system and the “India Stack” in general continue to attract interest from many countries around the world.

Mint quotes Ritesh Shukla, CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the public company which developed UPI, as saying that the plan is to double the number of countries using the payment platform within the next 18 months. UPI makes use of national digital ID systems like India’s Aadhaar.

Shukla had earlier also told the publication that they were ready to support all countries interested in the UPI by not only helping them build their own such platforms “in a sovereign manner,” but by also sealing commercial partnerships with them and with other countries with similar digital public infrastructure.

The CEO notes that having such a system in place will enable developing countries to ramp up their financial inclusion efforts, support people in rural communities, and facilitate the growth of fintechs, among other gains.

In recent times, India has concluded partnership deals with a number of countries to allow them share in the India Stack experience.

Meanwhile, RT reports that discussions are also underway between New Delhi and Moscow for the two countries to accept each other’s payment card, and to integrate their instant digital payment systems.

More than nine billion consumer payment transactions worth about 14.3 trillion Indian rupees (US$173 billion) are processed using the UPI every month in India. It is also said to be a strong enabler of India’s remittance economy.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital economy  |  digital identity  |  digital payments  |  digital public infrastructure  |  India  |  India Stack  |  Unified Payments Interface - UPI