The editorial is where Ryad publishes thinking, policy notes, and the names of operators, regulators, and institutions we work alongside. Pick a category to read.
01
Pay It Forward
Field reports, primers, and conviction pieces on what we think founders, regulators, and institutions should know.
02
Policies we push for
Specific regulatory and infrastructure positions Ryad is actively advocating for, across markets and across regulators.
03
Market reports
Field reports and data on the markets we operate in.
Editorial
Pay It Forward.
A series of thought papers on payment infrastructure, regulation, and the moves we think founders, regulators and institutions should make in emerging markets.
Banks. Building them. Consolidating them. Innovating on them. When I started speaking to people in this industry, I quickly realised that one big issue is verbalising the complexity of financial innovation, and how much of it sits inside regulation rather than inside technology.
Everyone understands that Africa is a highly unbanked continent, and there's a consensus that the reason is a lack of capability and resources.
Some people think it's an opportunity to leapfrog; most entrepreneurs use this narrative as their marketing strategy. But fundamentally, my opinion is that African rails aren't late, they aren't resource-poor, and they don't lack technological understanding or capacity. Instead, I think the problem is one of people caring enough to understand WHAT is blocking, what WON'T change, and what CAN change. From where I stand, there's a trilemma: (1) orchestrating information about what's happening, (2) connecting the right people, (3) caring. My hypothesis is simple, knowing the limitations and working around them may help the industry grow much faster than trying to change them.
We have examples that prove it's possible. I've started these Pay It Forward "thought" papers as a means to provide some explanations, and some opinions.
What we are publicly advocating for, and why it matters.
The thesis only works if the rails it depends on exist. Below is what we push for across regulators and standards bodies in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia, and why each one matters to anyone moving money in these markets.
Settlement & rails
Direct local-currency settlement
Most emerging-market cross-border flows still route through USD correspondent banks, losing 2–4% on every transaction. Clearing currencies directly against each other removes the single largest cost in the system.
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PAPSS operational expansion
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System works, but it only matters at scale once more central banks, currencies and retail rails are connected to it. We push for that reach to widen.
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ISO 20022 migration
A shared message standard is what lets rails in different countries actually talk to each other. Without aligned timetables, every integration is bespoke, slow and expensive.
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Real-time payment interoperability
Brazil's Pix and Indonesia's QRIS proved instant, near-free rails reshape a whole economy. We argue African systems should interoperate the same way rather than rebuild in silos.
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Diaspora remittance corridors
Remittances are a lifeline for receiving economies yet carry some of the highest fees in finance. Transparent pricing on the busiest corridors directly raises how much money reaches families.
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Regulation & licensing
Open-banking frameworks
Mandated, standardised data access is what lets new entrants build on top of incumbent banks. Brazil's open-finance rollout is the template we point regulators toward.
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PSP licence consolidation
A single, portable payments licence instead of a patchwork lets an operator scale across a market without re-papering from zero in each segment.
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Cross-border KYC reciprocity
If a customer verified in one country must be re-verified in the next, regional payments never flow. Mutual recognition of identity checks is the unlock for any trading bloc.
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Stablecoin clearing & settlement
Regulated stablecoins can move cross-border value in seconds. Clear rules on issuers and reserves decide whether that happens onshore and supervised, or offshore and grey.
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AI in compliance
Supervisors are deciding now what machine-led monitoring and screening they will accept. Getting this right lets compliance scale with volume instead of headcount.
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Embedded-finance perimeter
Whether banking-as-a-service sits inside or outside the regulated perimeter decides who can offer accounts and payments. We push for clarity that protects users without freezing innovation.
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Market structure & capital
M&A approval clarity for PSPs
Consolidation is how fragmented payment markets mature. Predictable concentration and change-of-control rules let serious acquirers commit capital instead of stalling in review.
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Non-bank capital adequacy
Payment firms are not banks and should not carry bank-sized capital burdens. Proportionate, BIS-aligned frameworks keep the system safe without crushing the operators that move it.
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Cross-jurisdiction holdco recognition
A group regulated at the holding-company level should be recognised as one entity across the markets it operates in, rather than treated as unrelated strangers in each.
Field reports and data on payment infrastructure across African and emerging markets: the structural shifts, the deals, and what they mean for anyone building or buying in.
