A Nigerian business needs to pay its supplier in China, but dollars are hard to come by through the usual banking channels. Instead of waiting, it settles the invoice in stablecoins. That workaround, once niche, is now a genuine part of how some African companies handle cross-border trade.
That reality was front and center at a Moonshot by TechCabal panel in Lagos, where representatives from Solana Superteam Nigeria, Obiex and Hyperbridge discussed where stablecoins are creating actual value on the continent. The consensus: demand is being driven less by crypto enthusiasm and more by the practical headaches of accessing foreign currency and completing international payments.
Chinonso Obiefule, lead at Solana Superteam Nigeria, put it plainly. "People want to access dollars, but they cannot do that because, obviously, dollars aren't easily accessible, so the next best option is actually stablecoin," he said. Odinaka Esiagu, head of customer success and operations at Obiex, added another dimension: time zones. A company buying goods from a Chinese supplier might need to move funds while its bank is closed. Stablecoins make that possible without waiting for the next banking day.
Esiagu was clear that this is about flexibility, not replacing banks altogether. The technology improves certain transactions rather than overhauling the whole system. Still, costs, security concerns and fragmented blockchain networks remain real obstacles to wider adoption, the panelists acknowledged.
The stakes are significant. Nigeria received about 59 billion dollars in crypto-asset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024, according to the IMF. Whether stablecoins move from a workaround to a mainstream business tool depends largely on whether those structural hurdles get resolved.
Originally published by TechCabal.