African fintech revenues are projected to expand 13-fold to approximately $65 billion by 2030, marking the continent as the world's fastest-growing digital finance market.
The "Beyond Payments: Unlocking Africa’s Second FinTech Wave " report, released by Boston Consulting Group at the Inclusive FinTech Forum in Kigali, indicates the sector is shifting from transactional inclusion to scalable, infrastructure-driven systems.
While Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 74% of global mobile money volume, more than 50% of lending still occurs through informal channels, representing a massive gap for B2B payments and data-driven underwriting.
The opportunity now is to convert scale into sustained, institutional-grade growth, says the report. Markets offering regulatory clarity and interoperable infrastructure are becoming increasingly attractive to long-term capital.
Rwanda is highlighted as an example of deliberate institutional coordination that lowers the cost to scale for financial institutions.
Forward-looking regulation and the License Passporting Memorandum of Understanding between Rwanda and Kenya are cited as practical steps toward easing regional expansion.
Financial centres like the Kigali International Financial Centre play a critical role in this next phase by reducing uncertainty for banks and investors.
By combining regulatory clarity and Pan-African integration, they reduce uncertainty for banks, fintechs, and investors, and help position markets as credible, long-term investment destinations.
Africa’s next fintech phase will be led by financial institutions, the report notes. It goes on to say banks and regulated entities are becoming the primary customers of digital financial infrastructure, demanding platforms that align with their risk frameworks.
The report identifies five institutional priorities to sustain momentum: interoperable infrastructure, data-driven credit, regulatory coherence, trust, and resilience.
Building seamless wallet-to-bank integration will enable more efficient value movement, while transforming transaction data into AI-enabled underwriting models will help bridge the gap in SME lending.
Proportional licensing frameworks and predictable supervisory practices will lower the cost to scale for innovators. Furthermore, expanding cybersecurity capabilities will ensure the ecosystem remains reliable as digital usage grows.
Africa has demonstrated that fintech scale is achievable, and the next decade will be shaped by those markets that strengthen their institutional foundations, the report concludes.
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