Circle and Sasai Explore USDC Stablecoin Applications Across Africa

Circle Internet Group and Sasai Fintech, a pan-African digital payments solution provider, have partnered to explore applications for Circle’s USDC stablecoin across Africa.

Sasai Fintech, a business of Cassava Technologies, operates across key payment corridors and offers a suite of digital financial services that enables business payments, cross-border transfers for individuals and remittance operators, and mobile wallet solutions, the companies said in a Tuesday (March 24) press release.

USDC, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued through Circle’s regulated affiliates, powers programmable payments and financial applications around the world, the release said.

With the integration of USDC and Circle’s onchain infrastructure, these platforms can connect users to the global financial system while reducing costs, frictions and settlement time, per the release.

“By integrating with the trusted and widely adopted USDC network, we can drive financial inclusion and open transformative opportunities for businesses and consumers alike,” Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman at Cassava Technologies, said in the release.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman and CEO at Circle, said in the release: “Working with Cassava, we can extend the benefits of USDC and onchain infrastructure into high-growth payment corridors to deliver always-on global connectivity.”

Masiyiwa said in the release that Africa’s digital economy is growing due to entrepreneurship, a mobile-first generation and intra-regional trade. Allaire said emerging markets are leading in stablecoin adoption and Africa represents an opportunity for internet-native innovation.

PYMNTS reported in August 2025 that the appeal of stablecoins in emerging markets is driven by 24/7 transfer availability, transactions settled in minutes, and an effective “digital dollar” hedge against local currency volatility.

In February, PYMNTS reported that Circle is positioning stablecoins as middleware for the global economy, with its USDC tokens being used as transactional infrastructure embedded inside FinTech, payments and treasury workflows.

“The fourth quarter marked another step forward in Circle’s mission to build the infrastructure for an open, programmable internet financial system,” Allaire said during a Feb. 25 earnings call. “USDC adoption continued to expand globally as more enterprises, developers and public institutions integrated digital dollars into real-world payments, treasury and onchain financial workflows.”

Meanwhile, Cassava Technologies announced that it partnered with Western Union to launch a new international money transfer mobile app in South Africa, partnered with Google to expand access to Google’s Gemini AI model across Africa, and secured an investment from Nvidia to expand its digital infrastructure and services.