In recent years, stablecoins have emerged as a significant player in the cryptocurrency landscape, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where they now represent an impressive 43% of the total crypto transaction volume. As the global market for stablecoins surpassed $300 billion in early 2026, with daily settlement volumes exceeding $150 billion, there remains a noticeable hesitance among institutions that are ideally positioned to capitalize on this growth. This reluctance is not due to technological unpreparedness but rather stems from the complexities surrounding people, processes, and frameworks that need to be addressed to facilitate smoother adoption.
The Stablecon Salons series has been initiated to bridge this gap, moving beyond standard keynotes and panel discussions to foster intimate exchanges among operators, builders, and policymakers across eight cities. By engaging in candid conversations, participants have begun to build meaningful relationships and gain a clearer understanding of the actual state of stablecoin adoption throughout Africa, evaluated city by city and institution by institution.
Already, the series has made significant strides in Nairobi, Kigali, and Marrakech, producing insights that extend well beyond mere highlights. The emphasis has been on fostering collaboration and diagnosing the landscape for stablecoin adoption across the continent. The discussions have been supported by notable entities such as Checker, Binance, Tether, Utila, and Al Mada Ventures, all of whom are pivotal players in the cryptocurrency domain.
Nairobi: The Regulation Is Done. The Harder Work Has Begun.
The inaugural edition in Nairobi occurred after the implementation of Kenya's VASP Act, which set the stage for meaningful discussions. Rather than debating the efficacy of stablecoins, participants confronted a more challenging question: what does it take to fundamentally reorganize institutions around a new infrastructure that diverges significantly from traditional systems? Joan Gachanja, the FX Manager for Africa at Thunes, provided a critical perspective during the session, sharing her experience of transitioning to stablecoin-settled flows. Contrary to expectations, her team encountered minimal friction; instead, they discovered that the treasury operations transformed from a cyclical nature to a real-time model. The issue wasn’t the technology itself but the necessity for her team’s operational model to adapt to the new environment stripped of old constraints.
The key takeaway from Nairobi is that while regulatory clarity is essential, it alone is insufficient for genuine progress. The real work lies in the human element—change management and institutional reorientation—which operates on a different timeline than technological advancements.
Kigali: Post-Regulatory, Pre-Ecosystem.
Rwanda's recent approval of its VASP framework in March 2026 provided an optimal backdrop for the Kigali edition of the Stablecon Salons, where an exceptional mix of industry operators, policymakers, and ecosystem leaders convened. Norbert Haguma, Chairman of the Rwanda Blockchain Association, articulated a pivotal insight: Rwanda is now in a post-regulatory phase, actively building within the established rules. However, this phase has illuminated a critical gap—while traditional finance has a robust support system built over decades, the equivalent for stablecoins is still in its infancy across most African markets. This gap, which Haguma referred to as the Tokenization Services Layer, highlights the necessity of developing a comprehensive professional ecosystem to support the stablecoin market.
The insight from Kigali reinforces the idea that establishing a proper regulatory framework is merely the first step; the real challenge lies in creating a supportive ecosystem that can function effectively within that framework.
As reported by thecondia.com.
