Capital flight in Africa, a stablecoin shift in Latin America, payment linkages in ASEAN and a two-speed Middle East. Each is creating demand for payment, compliance and treasury technology.
Moving money across borders in emerging markets is still slow, costly and dependent on third-party currencies. Governments, central banks and companies are now replacing that model with new payment links, local-currency settlement and digital rails. Each shift creates demand for payment infrastructure, compliance, foreign-exchange and treasury technology. Connectivity monitors these changes market by market.
Africa: capital is leaving — and systems to keep it are being built
UNCTAD estimates that Africa loses about US$88.6 billion a year to illicit capital flight — roughly 3.7% of the continent’s GDP — making it a net creditor to the rest of the world, while it faces a development financing gap of about US$200 billion a year (UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report 2020, reported by Al Jazeera and OCCRP). African leaders are pushing back: in June 2026, Ghana’s President John Mahama called for an end to the continent’s disproportionately high borrowing costs and for a fairer global financial system (Citi Newsroom, 4 June 2026).
What this means for banking technology: central banks and commercial banks need stronger anti-money-laundering and transaction-monitoring systems, payment switches and local-currency settlement — much of it procured through public tenders and multilateral-funded programmes.
Latin America: companies are already switching rails
According to an OpenTrade report published in June 2026, 71% of Latin American financial institutions already use stablecoins for cross-border payments — the highest regional adoption rate in the world — and stablecoin transaction volume in the region reached US$324 billion in 2025, up 89% year on year (The Digital Chamber, 17 June 2026). The drivers: expensive dollar hedging, currency volatility and slow correspondent banking. Mexico and Brazil are moving first.
What this means: banks and payment companies need compliant digital-asset custody, foreign-exchange and treasury platforms, and regulator-grade monitoring.
Southeast Asia: governments are wiring the region together
ASEAN leaders have endorsed a declaration on regional payment connectivity and local currency transactions, aimed at reducing dependence on the US dollar for intra-regional trade (Bangkok Post). Cross-border QR payment links keep expanding, with Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei joining the network (KrASIA), and electronic payments are part of ASEAN’s new Digital Economy Framework Agreement, due for signature in November 2026 (Manila Bulletin). Yet much wholesale trade is still priced in dollars, and mid-sized exporters still pay for every conversion.
What this means: demand for payment-system interlinking, FX and settlement engines, fraud prevention and B2B payment platforms on top of the new links.
Middle East: two very different markets
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the US dollar (Kuwait uses a currency basket), keeping hedging costs low and making the GCC a natural hub for regional treasury, payments and fintech operations. Outside the Gulf, the picture changes: in markets such as Egypt, devaluations and geopolitical risk make currency protection and trade finance expensive.
What this means: the GCC suits regional headquarters, regulatory sandboxes and digital-banking licences; non-pegged markets need risk, hedging and trade-finance technology.
How Connectivity supports banking technology providers
- Regulatory mapping: central-bank rules, licensing routes, sandboxes and data-residency requirements, country by country
- Tenders: central-bank, banking-sector and multilateral-funded procurement, tracked through Tender Watch
- Partners: vetted systems integrators, distributors and banking-sector contacts
- Market entry: from first meeting to first contract, under one European contract
Bring your banking technology to the markets rebuilding their payment systems. Tell us your product and target region, and we will show you where demand, regulation and procurement meet.