Africa’s fintech sector has grown at an unprecedented pace in the past decade, reshaping the continent’s financial landscape. Mobile money, digital wallets, and online payments are now integrated into everyday life for millions. Yet the crucial question is whether this rapid expansion can be sustained over the long term, and whether it will lead to deeper financial inclusion rather than fragmented systems.
As discussed in an article on TechCabal, the next five years will determine whether African fintech evolves into a resilient and integrated financial system. The ability to align infrastructure, regulation, and user experience will shape whether today’s growth translates into systemic transformation.
Persistent Structural Challenges
The pace of adoption has exceeded the pace of infrastructure development. High transaction fees, fragile networks, and inconsistent regulations remain major obstacles. According to World Bank data, Sub-Saharan Africa is still the costliest region for remittances, with average transfer fees exceeding 8%. For startups and small financial institutions, such costs undermine profitability and restrict the scalability of services.
Regulatory fragmentation further complicates cross-border operations. Repeated compliance requirements, varying transaction limits, and inconsistent digital trade frameworks prevent seamless expansion. Although the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Digital Trade offers a pathway toward harmonization, practical implementation remains uneven.
Regional Differences in Adoption
African fintech cannot be analyzed as a single market. Instead, local behaviors define opportunities and constraints. East Africa’s strength lies in daily mobile money usage, requiring robust transaction rails. West Africa is onboarding users at scale, while Central Africa’s key challenge is sustaining long-term user engagement. A uniform approach across these regions would neglect the diversity of user needs and economic realities.
Financial inclusion is rising but uneven. Women, rural households, and low-income groups still lag significantly in account ownership. Research on mobile fintech adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa highlights that uptake improves when users see tangible value, interfaces are intuitive, and systems earn trust.
The Role of Infrastructure Providers
Infrastructure partners play a crucial role in addressing systemic barriers. Firms such as Unipesa illustrate how multi-rail integration—across USSD, QR, NFC, and SMS—can expand access for underbanked populations. Their regionally aligned compliance frameworks and developer-focused tools reduce both costs and operational friction, enabling fintechs and e-commerce platforms to scale more efficiently.
This layered approach is essential not only for payment processing but also for embedding financial services into broader economic ecosystems. By linking settlement, compliance, and security at scale, infrastructure providers create the foundation upon which sustainable growth can be built.
Outlook and Research Implications
Forecasts suggest that African fintech revenues could increase up to 4.5 times by 2028, potentially reaching $47 billion. This trajectory depends on two factors: deeper adoption of digital financial accounts and stronger infrastructure capable of supporting expanded volumes. Governments are beginning to integrate fintech rails into national systems, while operators experiment with embedding next-generation technologies such as AI, automated KYC, and credit scoring.
For researchers, three themes warrant further examination:
- Regulatory harmonization — to identify practical steps for AfCFTA digital trade implementation.
- Infrastructure resilience — to measure the impact of connectivity gaps on adoption and retention.
- Inclusive product design — to explore how fintech solutions can better serve underserved groups and narrow existing gaps in account ownership.
Conclusion
Africa has demonstrated the transformative potential of fintech. However, sustaining progress requires coordinated action among governments, infrastructure providers, and private-sector innovators. Lowering costs, aligning regulations, and strengthening cross-border payment rails will be decisive. The next five years are not only a test of scale but also of resilience and inclusivity.
For scholars and policymakers, Africa’s fintech journey offers a compelling case study of how innovation, regulation, and infrastructure interact in shaping financial systems under conditions of rapid adoption. The continent’s trajectory will reveal whether fintech can evolve from transactional convenience into a foundation for sustainable development.
International Journal of Research (IJR) 