African countries are no strangers to the use of digital solutions for money transfers, nor to the rapid implementation of such technologies. It is often said that the pervasiveness of mobile telecommunication usage in Africa, enabled the continent to leapfrog many first-world countries. Mobile phone usage grew from less than 3% to 80% in under a decade.
There is already an abundance of local mobile and e-payment platforms that have seized this as an opportunity to develop innovative ways to reduce the friction associated with transferring money across the continent. An example is Kenya’s M-Pesa which has been around since 2007. The platform which allows customers to send and receive money via mobile phone, already handles transfers of more than 25% of Kenya’s GNP, leading to greater consumer confidence in financial technologies.
Baker McKenzie
