Cantor8 has announced a strategic initiative to integrate Africa’s leading mobile money systems—M-PESA and EVC Plus—onto the Canton Network through a partnership with Yiksi Limited. The move, confirmed via exclusive memoranda of understanding, aims to bridge the gap between widely adopted mobile payment platforms and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
The project will leverage Taran App, a prominent African fintech platform, and its cryptocurrency exchange Yiksi to enable direct conversion between digital money services and crypto. The pilot targets Kenya and Somalia, where traditional banking penetration is low—around 15% in Somalia—and mobile money usage exceeds 85% of the adult population. M-PESA commands over 90% of Kenya’s mobile transaction value, while EVC Plus, operated by Hormuud Telecom, serves nearly 5 million users in Somalia.
The Canton Network was chosen for its compliant privacy features, which do not expose transaction history publicly, and its atomic settlement capability that eliminates settlement gaps. Cantor8’s C8 Registry token issuance engine will be used to bring these mobile money rails onchain, enabling instant, cross-border transactions denominated in stable fiat equivalents like the US dollar.
The broader goal is to create a seamless pan-African payments system that enhances financial inclusion and interoperability across emerging markets. Cantor8 believes this pilot will demonstrate how onchain infrastructure can scale across the continent, eventually connecting other mobile money ecosystems.
