Enabling central banks to deploy programmable digital currencies with full monetary sovereignty.
AfriVest provides the complete technical and advisory stack for central banks seeking to digitize national currencies, whether as wholesale CBDC for interbank settlement, retail CBDC for financial inclusion, or regulated stablecoins as a bridge to full CBDC deployment. Our infrastructure supports programmable money with built-in policy controls, offline capability for rural areas, and interoperability across the 54 African monetary zones. We work alongside the IMF CBDC framework and align with BIS innovation hub standards to ensure every deployment meets global best practices while respecting national monetary sovereignty. Our CBDC architecture is modular and sovereignty-preserving: central banks retain full control over monetary policy, issuance, and redemption while benefiting from AfriVest's battle-tested technology stack. The platform supports both account-based and token-based models, enabling central banks to choose the architecture that best fits their existing financial infrastructure and policy objectives. We provide end-to-end support from feasibility assessment and stakeholder consultation through pilot deployment, public education, and full-scale rollout, drawing on lessons learned from CBDC initiatives across the continent.
Designed to align with
Built for institutions to trust.
Each capability is designed to institutional standards, for the regulators, central banks, and cooperatives that will rely on it.
Wholesale CBDC Infrastructure
High-throughput interbank settlement layer enabling real-time gross settlement between commercial banks, with programmable liquidity management and automated reserve requirements. The wholesale layer processes up to 100,000 transactions per second with cryptographic finality, supporting intraday liquidity optimization and collateral management across the entire banking sector.
Retail CBDC for Financial Inclusion
Consumer-facing digital currency wallets with offline capability, USSD access for feature phones, and zero-cost person-to-person transfers, designed for the the roughly four in ten adults in Sub-Saharan Africa without a financial account (World Bank Findex, 2025). The retail wallet supports tiered KYC allowing basic transactions with just a phone number, progressively unlocking higher limits as users add identity documentation.
Programmable Money Controls
Central bank policy tools built into the currency layer, including interest rate transmission, targeted stimulus distribution, velocity controls, and expiring money for fiscal programs. These programmable controls enable precision monetary policy that traditional cash-based systems cannot achieve, from geographic stimulus targeting to sector-specific lending incentives.
Cross-Border Settlement Protocol
Multi-CBDC bridge enabling instant cross-border settlement between African nations, eliminating correspondent banking delays and reducing remittance costs from 9% to near-zero. The protocol supports atomic swaps between different national CBDCs with real-time FX rate discovery and automatic compliance with both sending and receiving jurisdiction regulations.
Stablecoin Bridge Framework
Regulated stablecoin issuance as a transitional path to full CBDC, with full reserve backing, real-time attestation, and seamless migration path when the central bank is ready. This bridge approach allows nations to gain experience with digital currency operations while building public trust before committing to full sovereign CBDC deployment.
Monetary Policy Dashboard
Real-time analytics and control panel for central bank governors, monitoring money supply, velocity, geographic distribution, and programmable policy rule execution. The dashboard provides unprecedented visibility into monetary flows, enabling data-driven policy decisions with granularity impossible in traditional cash-based economies.
Offline Transaction Engine
Secure offline transaction capability using hardware-based secure elements in mobile devices, enabling CBDC payments in areas without internet connectivity. Transactions queue locally and settle automatically when connectivity is restored, ensuring rural populations are never excluded from the digital economy.
Privacy-Preserving Architecture
Tiered privacy model balancing individual transaction privacy with regulatory compliance requirements, small-value transactions enjoy cash-like anonymity while larger transfers include identity attestation. Zero-knowledge proofs enable compliance verification without exposing transaction details to unauthorized parties.
A clear path, verified at every step.
From first engagement to full operation, every phase is designed for reliability, compliance, and integration with the institutions already in place.
Central Bank Engagement & Framework Design
AfriVest works with central banks to design a CBDC or digital currency framework tailored to the nation's monetary policy objectives, existing banking infrastructure, and regulatory requirements.
Technology Architecture & Integration
A sovereign-grade technology stack is deployed, including distributed ledger infrastructure, privacy-preserving transaction layers, offline capability, and integration with commercial banking systems via ISO 20022.
Pilot Deployment & Testing
Controlled pilot programmes are launched with selected financial institutions and user groups, testing transaction throughput, offline resilience, cross-border interoperability, and monetary policy transmission mechanisms.
National Rollout & Ecosystem Expansion
Following successful pilots, the digital currency is scaled nationally with merchant integration, interbank settlement, and cross-border corridors, while maintaining full central bank monetary sovereignty.
Built for the institutions that steward value.
From sovereign authorities to cooperatives, ownership is preserved with the communities and institutions that already hold it.
Technical advisory engagement with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on CBDC architecture, pilot design, and regulatory framework development for the ZiG digital currency. The engagement covers technology selection, privacy architecture, offline capability requirements, and integration with existing banking infrastructure across the nation's commercial banks.
Live cross-border payment protocol enabling instant settlement between African nations using stablecoin rails, currently processing corridors between Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Namibia. The protocol reduces settlement time from 3-5 business days to under 30 seconds while cutting costs by over 95% compared to traditional correspondent banking.
Full CBDC deployment advisory, from technical architecture through regulatory framework and public education campaign. Designed as a proof-of-concept for full national digitization, demonstrating how CBDC can transform a complete monetary system.
Regional multi-CBDC bridge connecting 16 Southern African Development Community nations, enabling real-time settlement across the Rand Monetary Area and beyond, with automated compliance and FX conversion supporting intra-regional trade worth $85 billion annually.
Explore connected infrastructure layers.
AfriVest's solutions are designed as an integrated stack where each layer strengthens the others. Explore how these connected layers work together.
