Ripple is expanding into Africa’s $205 billion crypto market with RLUSD partnerships and custody solutions as XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) tests the $1.30 support that has held multiple times over the past two weeks.

The Africa Push

Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, a 52% year-over-year increase. 

Nigeria ranked 6th and Ethiopia 12th in the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has seen strong demand across Africa through partnerships with Mercy Corps Ventures in Kenya for aid delivery, plus Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card for institutional access. 

Moreover, Absa Bank signed a strategic partnership for Ripple Custody.

Ripple’s 2026 survey found 57% of finance leaders prefer partners that provide custody, orchestration, and compliance together rather than managing components separately.

The Regulatory Wave

Eight African countries have implemented crypto-specific regulation, with more working toward formal frameworks focusing on licensing digital asset service providers, strengthening AML requirements, and establishing consumer protection standards.

South Africa led in June 2023 with a comprehensive framework classifying crypto assets as financial products. 

Kenya signed its Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill into law in October 2025, placing oversight under the Central Bank of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority.

Nigeria formally recognized digital assets as securities under the Investments and Securities Act 2025. 

The Central Bank of Nigeria relaxed previous restrictions on banks working with licensed digital asset providers, launching an AML supervision pilot for VASPs.

Mauritius introduced Africa’s earliest comprehensive frameworks through the VAITOS Act of 2021, with strong AML and counter-terrorism financing requirements. The country issued stablecoin guidance last year.

The Use Case Driver

Africa is responsible for 70% of the world’s $1 trillion mobile money market. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of adults held mobile money accounts in 2024, up from 27% in 2021. 

A third rely exclusively on mobile money for global financial system access.

Traditional cross-border payment rails remain a pain point across the region, compounded by lack of access to stable foreign currencies. 

Digital assets provide a more efficient alternative to traditional rails, which require multi-day settlement times and significant fees.

The Technical Breakdown

XRP is down 1%, sliding back toward the $1.30 support. The descending trendline from the April 17 high of $1.61 has rejected every meaningful rally.

The Parabolic SAR at $1.3473 sits overhead as immediate resistance. 

All three VWAP levels ($1.3157, $1.3185, $1.3129) are compressed tightly around current price.

Key support sits at $1.30 with $1.2800 below that. Resistance clusters at $1.3185 (VWAP), then $1.3473 (SAR), then $1.38. A clean break below $1.30 with volume would target $1.25.

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