Kora, a pan-African payment infrastructure provider, announced the launch of One Rail, expanding its payments infrastructure to support stablecoins. Through One Rail, merchants can seamlessly collect, hold, convert, and settle funds in digital currencies alongside traditional fiat payment rails.
African businesses operating across borders face persistent structural challenges, including slow international settlement times, high foreign exchange conversion costs, limited access to USD liquidity, and fragmented infrastructure across markets. One Rail directly addresses these pain points by allowing merchants to leverage stablecoins and settlement networks to accelerate cross-border value transfer while reducing operational complexity.
With the US dollar serving as the dominant currency for much of Africa’s cross-border commerce, Kora’s initial support will include USDT and USDC – with additional major USD-backed stablecoins to be added based on demand and regulatory and operational readiness.
As an extension of Kora’s core infrastructure, One Rail is designed for teams without technical blockchain expertise. Developers can seamlessly access stablecoin support through the same Kora APIs and developer tools they already use.
The integration allows merchants to access dedicated wallet generation to receive stablecoin payments seamlessly, complete with real-time tracking and automated payment reconciliation through the primary Kora Dashboard. Additionally, businesses can manage their liquidity by holding digital dollar balances or converting them into supported local fiat currencies, which can then be settled directly into local bank accounts via Kora’s established payout rails.
“Cross-border commerce in Africa is hindered by high friction and remittance costs averaging 8–8.8% compared to the 6.49% global average. At the same time, stablecoin ownership in Africa is now at 78%,” said Dickson Nsofor, CEO and Founder of Kora. “At Kora, we provide the financial infrastructure connecting Africa to the world’s digital economy. One Rail levels the playing field, enabling merchants to integrate stablecoin payments into their existing payment stack, delivering the speed, cost efficiency, and access needed to drive business growth across the continent.”
One Rail’s initial rollout focuses on core merchant collection, payouts, and treasury capabilities, including wallet generation, payment confirmation, and manual settlement workflows. For more information, visit https://www.korahq.com/.