Ripple is actively expanding its footprint in Africa by combining institutional finance with humanitarian innovations in its projects such as RLUSD.
Institutional Adoption Across Africa’s Financial Networks
Ripple has partnered with fintech leaders such as Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card to offer Ripple USD (RLUSD), a regulated U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin to corporate and institutional users across Africa.
With over $700 million in combined supply on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, RLUSD is set to enable remittances, treasury flows, and collateralization of tokenized assets in markets where banking infrastructure and reliable currencies are scarce.
Real World Climate Aid with Smart Contracts
In Kenya’s arid regions, Ripple and Mercy Corps Ventures, working with DIVA Donate, have led RLUSD to support pastoralist communities with blockchain-powered drought insurance. Using real-time satellite data via the NDVI index, smart contracts program funds to be released automatically when drought conditions are detected.
In this pilot, 517 pastoralists (70% women) were reportedly insured. Fortunately, good vegetation meant no payouts were triggered, so the unused RLUSD rolled into future campaigns with a funding pool expanded to $40,000, covering 533 participants in subsequent phases.
Why This Matters
This Ripple Africa expansion is significant for two reasons. First, RLUSD is a regulated and reliable alternative to prevalent stablecoin options like USDT or BUSD. It enables secure liquidity layers for treasuries, trade, and tokenized asset ventures.
Second, the climate-focused pilot illustrates that blockchain can provide anticipatory aid that saves lives and supports livelihoods through transparent, fast, and inclusive mechanisms.
Ripple's Africa expansion represents a two-sided strategy that combines institutional liquidity and real-world resilience. By flowing RLUSD through established fintechs, Ripple is embedding a regulated stablecoin into Africa's payment systems.
