Circle (CRCL.US) African debut: partnering with Cassava, as the stablecoin USDC makes its first "flag-planting" in 30 African countries

Crypto Finance APP learned that stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL.US), supported by Nvidia (NVDA.US), has reached its first African partnership with a division of Cassava Technologies, aiming to provide customers with the ability to use the company’s stablecoins for transactions.

Cassava’s Sasai Fintech Ltd. operates a remittance app across 30 markets in Africa, allowing customers to make domestic and cross-border payments using Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), a dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Stelaph Mahieva, founder and chairman of Cassava Technologies, said, “With a mobile-first generation and the growing momentum of cross-border commerce and entrepreneurship, Africa’s digital economy is entering a new era. By integrating Circle’s USDC stablecoin into the Sasai platform, it will open up more business opportunities and promote financial inclusion across the continent.”

Africa has the world’s fastest-growing and youngest population, with increasing technological proficiency. The continent is turning to stablecoins to facilitate cross-border transactions and reduce remittance and payment costs. This dollar-pegged unit can also hedge against currency devaluation and dollar shortages in Africa.

According to data from tracking firm DefiLlama, as the Iran war erupted, investors viewed stablecoins like USDC as safe havens, pushing the market size to a record high of approximately $316 billion. U.S. lawmakers are working to regulate stablecoins as fully collateralized payment tools, but may ban them from automatically paying interest to holders.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and chairman of Circle, said emerging markets are at the forefront of stablecoin adoption, and Africa represents an important opportunity to expand USDC and Circle’s infrastructure into high-growth payment corridors.