Whitepaper

The Future of Digital Payments in Africa

Exploring Growth Opportunities for Payment Service Providers and Fintechs

Sub-Saharan Africa has 763M registered mobile money accounts, nearly half the world’s total, and handles 70% of global mobile money transactions (GSMA). Digital payments across the continent grew 37% in five years (SIIPS 2024). This whitepaper was created with African payments expert Alfred Kamanu. It covers how PSPs and fintechs can enter the market, comply with local rules and scale across Africa’s fast-moving payments landscape.
You’ll learn:

  • The payments landscape: how Africa is moving away from cash, and how mobile money, cards, QR and crypto adoption differ across East, West, North and Southern Africa
  • Technology driving growth: mobile money’s shift from P2P transfers to loans, savings and investments, plus QR payments, contactless and blockchain
  • Banks and fintechs: how agent banking and bank–fintech partnerships are reaching underserved and rural customers
  • Regulation: PSP licensing requirements, stricter data protection laws in Nigeria and Kenya, and regulatory sandboxes in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
  • The real challenges: slow licensing, KYC without unified national IDs, poor interoperability, fraud, and unreliable power and connectivity, plus practical ways to address each
  • Where the opportunities are: cross-border trade via PAPSS and AfCFTA, e-commerce and social commerce, SME merchants, CBDCs and partnerships with telcos
  • What’s next: super apps, neobanks, AI-driven fraud detection, digital currencies and a growing focus on cybersecurity

© 2026 Akurateco. All Rights Reserved.

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Sub-Saharan Africa has 763M registered mobile money accounts, nearly half the world’s total, and handles 70% of global mobile money transactions (GSMA). Digital payments across the continent grew 37% in five years (SIIPS 2024). This whitepaper was created with African payments expert Alfred Kamanu. It covers how PSPs and fintechs can enter the market, comply with local rules and scale across Africa’s fast-moving payments landscape.
You’ll learn:

  • The payments landscape: how Africa is moving away from cash, and how mobile money, cards, QR and crypto adoption differ across East, West, North and Southern Africa
  • Technology driving growth: mobile money’s shift from P2P transfers to loans, savings and investments, plus QR payments, contactless and blockchain
  • Banks and fintechs: how agent banking and bank–fintech partnerships are reaching underserved and rural customers
  • Regulation: PSP licensing requirements, stricter data protection laws in Nigeria and Kenya, and regulatory sandboxes in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
  • The real challenges: slow licensing, KYC without unified national IDs, poor interoperability, fraud, and unreliable power and connectivity, plus practical ways to address each
  • Where the opportunities are: cross-border trade via PAPSS and AfCFTA, e-commerce and social commerce, SME merchants, CBDCs and partnerships with telcos
  • What’s next: super apps, neobanks, AI-driven fraud detection, digital currencies and a growing focus on cybersecurity

© 2026 Akurateco. All Rights Reserved.