Kora, a prominent pan-African payment infrastructure firm, and Finextra, a financial technology news and information portal, have joined forces to give a comprehensive examination of Africa’s economic landscape in a white paper titled “The Future of Fintech in Africa, 2023.”
In this joint paper, experts from Kora, Finextra, Binance, Yoco, and six other firms present ideas supported by research, reflect on lessons learned the hard way, and assess the emerging patterns that are driving the expansion of Africa’s fintech industry.
The analysis offers useful insights for businesses and investors all over the continent, ranging from the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to the revolutionising impact of blockchain and cloud technologies on cross-border payments. Specifically, the report focuses on the potential of AI to alter the payment process.
The research provides a comprehensive assessment of the fintech environment across Africa by compiling the opinions and observations of specialists from each region of the continent.
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Remark from Kora and Finextra
“We are excited to present ‘The Future of Fintech in Africa 2023’ in collaboration with Finextra,” said Dickson Nsofor, CEO at Kora.
He added: “This white paper reflects our commitment to advancing the financial landscape in Africa and empowering businesses in the fintech industry.”
“Africa has witnessed significant progress in the financial technology sector with the value of mobile transactions increasing 25 times over the last decade. The whitepaper suggests ideas towards building on this growth and realizing Africa’s vision of a truly unified continent; enhancing trade, and economic maturity,” remarked Ayodeji Osisami, COO at Kora.
Madhvi Mavadiya, Head of Content at Finextra, narrated: “The future of fintech in Africa holds immense potential and transformative opportunities. Through our joint efforts with Kora, the Future of Fintech in Africa 2023 report presents a comprehensive view of the region’s fintech evolution, highlighting the disruptive technologies and regulatory insights that will shape its path forward.”
A summary of the statement
Data is central to fintech—digital banking, digital payments, personal finance, lending, and investment—and the most important source for financial product and service analysis, bridging the gap between data security and customer satisfaction.
African businesses, countries, and regions have used data, cloud, blockchain, and AI to their advantage.
Two years after the global financial crisis, Kenyan payments, money transfer, and microfinancing service M-Pesa became the most successful developing world mobile phone-based banking service. This was three years after Vodafone and Safaricom launched it.
In addition, bank transaction flows have expanded by 10% annually over the past decade. Mobile money payments have also skyrocketed, with monthly transactions 25 times higher between 2010 and 2018.
The digital payments market matured faster in Africa than in Europe: France saw 33 million electronic payments in 2009 and 61.5 million in 2018, while Nigeria saw over two billion in 2018, according to Statista.
Additionally, by 2027, 611 million people will use digital payments. Digital investment will be Africa’s largest market in 2023 with a transaction value of $994 million, and the digital assets market is predicted to expand 36% in 2024.
Africa’s fintech enterprises will thrive in digital banking, digital payments, personal finance, lending, and investment by using AI, blockchain, cloud, and data.
This Finextra report, published with Kora, includes expert insights from Binance, Cloud Africa, Data Scientists Network, JUMO, Mojaloop Foundation, TymeBank, and Yoco on Africa’s fintech future.
The full statement can be accessed here.