Interstellar Joins SiBAN: Strengthening Pan-African Payments & Infrastructure Dialogue

The Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) welcomes Interstellar as a new member. Interstellar’s membership broadens the technical and institutional expertise within SiBAN’s network at a time when practical infrastructure and cross-border liquidity solutions are central to Africa’s digital finance agenda.

Interstellar has played a pivotal role in several infrastructure and partnership initiatives across Africa. In July 2025, in collaboration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Interstellar unveiled the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM). With this marketplace, more than 80 African corporations participated in a pilot, trading across 12 currency pairs with full settlement in local currencies.

Why this membership matters to SiBAN and the industry

Interstellar’s focus, building institutional rails, permissioned settlement infrastructure and market-grade interoperability components , complements SiBAN’s priority areas: market integrity, operational resilience, and lawful cross-border payments. The addition of Interstellar to SiBAN’s membership strengthens the Association’s capacity to convene technical conversations that move beyond theory into deployable infrastructure and regulatory-ready design.

Interstellar’s recent public engagements and partnerships for instance, as co-architect of the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace launched in mid-2025, reflects three areas of relevance for SiBAN members:

Permissioned, compliant design: Interstellar positions its stack for institutional contexts where regulatory alignment, counterparty controls and custody arrangements are essential considerations that are front-of-mind for regulators and incumbents.
Pan-African collaboration: The company’s work with PAPSS and commentary around regional settlements situates Interstellar within ongoing continental efforts to reduce dependence on foreign rails and to deepen intra-Africa trade finance.

About Interstellar and leadership

Interstellar is led by Ernest Mbenkum, Founder and CEO, who has appeared publicly to discuss the firm’s role in building infrastructure for African currency settlement and payments. The company describes itself as delivering blockchain-agnostic, enterprise grade solutions for secure, scalable settlement and cross-border flows. Interstellar’s public communications and media coverage highlight its technical collaboration with PAPSS and its positioning as an infrastructure partner for institutional adoption.

What this brings to SiBAN members

Interstellar’s membership provides SiBAN and its members with access to technical, product and policy insights on building settlement infrastructure that can operate within regulatory constraints. For SiBAN’s working groups; whether on payments, tokenization, custody, or market infrastructure, Interstellar offers a practitioner perspective on:

designing permissioned ledgers suitable for regulated counterparties;
operational approaches to liquidity pooling and market-making on continental rails;
considerations in aligning infrastructure with local regulations and central-bank requirements.

Those conversations are central to SiBAN’s objective of translating operational experience into policy recommendations, and practical standards that regulators and market participants can adopt.

A Strategic Partnership for Industry Growth

SiBAN’s role remains that of an industry association and convenor. Interstellar’s inclusion in SiBAN is a strategic opportunity to partner on knowledge exchange, standards development, and multi-stakeholder pilots that inform policy and practice. SiBAN will work with Interstellar and other members to ensure that technical advances are matched by governance, consumer safeguards, and regulatory clarity.

Disclaimer

Membership in SiBAN is a voluntary affiliation that signals a willingness to engage in collective industry dialogue. It is not a validation, endorsement, certification, or regulatory approval of member’s products, services, or compliance status. All members remain individually responsible for meeting applicable laws and regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions where they operate.

Join the conversation

If your organisation shares a commitment to building resilient, regulatory-aligned blockchain infrastructure for Africa, we invite you to join SiBAN. Help shape standards, pilots and policy that turn technical promise into inclusive, accountable outcomes.