Which African nation became the first to adopt India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI)?

The correct answer is (C) Namibia

Namibia became the first African nation to adopt India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) technology for its own financial ecosystem.

In early 2024 (specifically April), the Bank of Namibia signed a partnership agreement with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL).

Unlike countries that merely "accept" UPI payments from Indian tourists, Namibia is adopting the UPI technology stack to build its own sovereign instant payment system, modernizing its digital financial infrastructure.

Ghana (Option A): Shortly after the Namibia announcement (May 2024), India and Ghana agreed to link their payment systems (UPI and GHIPSS) within six months to facilitate cross-border transactions, but Namibia holds the title for the first comprehensive adoption agreement.

Kenya (Option D): Kenya is famous for M-Pesa, its own mobile money success story. While there have been discussions about interoperability with UPI, it has not "adopted" UPI as its core system.

Nigeria (Option B): There have been high-level talks regarding UPI's benefits for the Nigerian banking sector, but no formal adoption had taken place at the time of the Namibia deal.

Adoption vs. Acceptance: There is a key difference in how countries interact with UPI.

Acceptance: Countries like France (Eiffel Tower), UAE, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka allow Indian users to pay merchants using their existing UPI apps.

Adoption: Countries like Namibia and Peru are actually buying the technology to build their own national payment rails modeled after India's UPI.

NIPL: The international expansion is led by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).