A Mastercard-commissioned report published by Genesis Analytics in March 2025 stated that Africa’s digital payments economy is expected to reach US$1.5trn by 2030, fuelled by increased financial inclusion. According to Mohamed Kortam, Regional Treasurer, Middle East & Africa at yeast manufacturer Lesaffre, Africa’s leadership in digital payments often goes underappreciated. “The continent has pioneered solutions like mobile money, enabling financial inclusion for millions without traditional bank accounts – think InstaPay in Egypt (backed by the Central Bank’s real-time network) or M-Pesa, which revolutionised Kenya, Tanzania and beyond,” he says.
Meanwhile, initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System streamline cross-border trade. For service providers this digital shift is a win, but Kortam acknowledges that for trade and manufacturing, hurdles remain. “Firstly, cash remains culturally entrenched in many markets,” he explains. “In Zimbabwe, for instance, hyperinflation eroded trust in formal systems, while in Ivory Coast, cash still dominates daily transactions despite mobile money growth.”
“Secondly, selling into Africa from abroad isn’t just about payment rails; it’s a currency puzzle. Limited foreign exchange liquidity and patchy correspondent banking networks (not all African banks connect seamlessly with global counterparts) add friction. The progress is real but bridging the gap between digital potential and on-the-ground habits – and global systems – will define Africa’s next phase.”
A June 2025 IMF report noted the importance of strengthening digital infrastructure and levelling the playing field for private sector involvement through an enabling, competitive, interoperable and secure operating environment.
A digital platform of any kind requires solid, consistent and sound connectivity and technological capacity, which come at a high cost. Unfortunately, such financial commitments are still a stretch too far for most African countries. For those better developed countries with the budgets to start such projects, corruption dominates and funds are often misappropriated for personal benefits suggests Siyanda Ndabambi, Johannesburg-based Treasury Officer at testing, inspection and certification services provider Bureau Veritas Group. “Some countries have done well enough to equip themselves with the required infrastructure, making digital banking and payments a reality,” he says. “However, this gives rise to the next challenge – consumer confidence and buy-in.”
Digital platforms may deliver the highest level of efficiency, but the most important component of the project cannot be overlooked – bringing people along. “We must educate and empower those we expect to use these digital platforms,” adds Ndabambi. “Many Africans have faced so much adversity that they now trust nothing and no one but themselves. They would still rather hold onto cash and keep it under their bed than trust a bank that may have turned them away in the past when they needed help.”
Digital and financial literacy remains a very important need in Africa and with massive inequality existing across the continent, he is concerned that many people are still not exposed to the education required to understand the ever-changing digital world.
John Sam-Kabum, Crown Agents Bank’s CEO for Africa agrees that many African markets lack uniform payment rails, making integration complex for corporates operating across borders, and that transitioning to digital often requires real-time settlement in multiple currencies, which can strain treasury systems. He adds different compliance requirements in each country (which increase operational risk and cost) and the need to retrain staff, update ERP systems and manage resistance internally to the challenges involved in shifting from cash to digital payments. However, Sam-Kabum says the benefits can be considerable. “Firms are seeing 20% reduction in idle cash and 30% improvement in cash forecasting accuracy after implementing centralised digital payments. APIs, robotic process automation and real-time data are improving liquidity management and agility in treasury operations and digital payments also create an auditable trail, simplifying reporting and reducing fraud.”
He notes that digital wallets and contactless payments now dominate urban markets and refers to examples such as transport and ticketing in Kenya, where more than 70% of Nairobi matatus now accept M-Pesa fares; utilities in South Africa, where hundreds of thousands of smart meters offer prepaid electricity and water billing; agriculture in Uganda, where platforms such as AgriConnect deposit seasonal loan funds directly into farmers’ mobile wallets; and healthcare in Nigeria, where digital transfers are increasingly used to pay health workers.
According to Nthabiseng Mohale, Head of Interbank and Domestic Payments at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking, there is a strong drive to move to digital payments to foster growth and accelerate financial inclusion within the African continent. “The telecommunications sector is encouraging the utilisation of digital payments and there is a growing trend for governments across the continent to push for more digital payments, as this enables simplified reporting and creates transparency within the financial system,” she says.
Mohale is another who points to the need for further infrastructure investment to enable the adoption of digital payments across Africa. “Reliable and stable connectivity is still an issue in some countries, impacting the penetration of digital solutions,” she says. “There is also a need to review the costs associated with connectivity and consider how innovation can be used to ensure scalability and lower the cost of accessing digital services. Channels to access digital services must also be reviewed to ensure that even the most remote places on the continent are catered for and serviced accordingly.”
It is important not to underplay the challenges corporate treasury faces in managing the transition from cash to digital payments in Africa. This shift exposes organisations to heightened cybersecurity risks, with fraud, hacking and data breaches requiring stronger defences and continuous monitoring. At the same time, regulatory compliance becomes a moving target as anti-money laundering and data privacy rules evolve across jurisdictions. The journey is further complicated by integration hurdles since many companies still rely on outdated ERP or treasury systems that don’t easily align with modern digital platforms and API connectivity, observes Lumnandi Dambuza, Head of Product Liquidity at Absa CIB. “Digital payments often settle instantly, requiring treasurers to rethink real-time liquidity management and sharpen their forecasting tools – a capability that is often enabled through partnering with banks,” she says. “Shifting to digital payments also relies on suppliers and customers (who may not be ready to embrace them) adopting digital methods, resulting in payment chain friction.”
On the plus side, Dambuza notes that digital payments improve financial operations efficiency. “By reducing reliance on physical cash, organisations can lower handling and reconciliation costs, while digital platforms also make it easier to scale globally by supporting cross-border payments more efficiently than traditional cash or check-based methods.”
When asked which business sectors in Africa are seeing the most rapid move away from cash payments, Dambuza refers to transport and mobility, retail and e-commerce, financial services and hospitality/entertainment. “In transport and mobility, ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Bolt strongly encourage card and mobile wallet payments, while traditional minibus taxi associations in South Africa largely continue to operate on a cash-based model,” she says. “In the hospitality and entertainment sectors, payment solutions are increasingly being designed around customer needs with QR codes and contactless payments adopted to deliver speed, convenience and security.”
Dambuza agrees that uneven telecommunications networks, limited broadband access and high data costs continue to constrain rural communities and that unreliable electricity access adds another layer of difficulty, with load shedding and power outages disrupting connectivity, data centres and payment processing systems. “Mobile money platforms like M-Pesa and MTN MoMo have been instrumental in advancing financial inclusion but limited interoperability between providers and across borders continues to complicate cross-border treasury operations,” she adds.
Chipo Mushwana, Executive Payments at Nedbank also observes that utilities and telecommunications providers are moving quickly towards digital payments with payments for electricity, water and mobile airtime increasingly handled via mobile money and online payment portals. “In agriculture we see change too with more agribusinesses, co-ops and buyers using mobile money to pay farmers and suppliers, helping rural communities participate in digital finance,” she adds. “Finally, banks and fintechs are spearheading the shift, with traditional banks (often in partnership with telecoms operators and tech firms) rolling out innovative cashless solutions and fintech innovators aggressively expanding digital payment options across the continent.”
Mushwana notes that while Kenya, South Africa and Ghana have become continental frontrunners in cashless payments, there are other areas that need significant upgrades. “Inconsistent internet or mobile network coverage and unreliable electricity supply can hinder digital payments and interoperability between different payment platforms is another challenge,” she says. “In some countries, mobile wallets, banks and card systems don’t talk to each other seamlessly, which can frustrate users and treasurers trying to move money across systems. In addition, as digital transactions grow, so does the threat of fraud and hacking and many countries are racing to strengthen their security frameworks around payments.”
In terms of specific markets, Kuben Naidoo, Head of Corporate Payments Channels at Investec South Africa says the rapid rise of fintech companies that have rolled out cheaper forms of point-of-sale devices has enabled businesses in even the most remote areas to accept bank cards and digital forms of payments. “Many of these devices can operate offline for a period and have longer battery storage capacities,” he adds. “Telecoms companies are also playing a role in providing payments services to their clients, irrespective of whether they have bank accounts or not.”
Naidoo recognises that the infrastructure is not perfect but says it is getting better at a rapid rate. “Rising smart phone penetration is also critical to drive some forms of digital payments,” he adds. “Smartphone penetration in South Africa is at approximately 55% – and rising by about ten percentage points a year – and the steady rollout of 4G and 5G networks is also supporting digital payment adoption.”
Of course, fragmentation remains a major issue. Digital payments across Africa often involve multiple payment rails, providers, settlement timelines and currencies which complicates cash visibility for treasury teams, particularly when operating across several countries. In addition, unlike cash, digital funds may sit across multiple wallets, payment service provider balances or intermediary accounts, each with different settlement cycles. This often creates timing mismatches between collections and availability of funds.
“FX and repatriation complexity is also a persistent challenge,” adds Zaki Farooq, Co-Founder Payfuture. “For example, even where digital collections are strong, moving funds cross-border in a compliant, predictable way remains difficult in some markets due to capital controls, regulatory approvals and inconsistent banking infrastructure.”
In many markets, consumer-facing payment infrastructure is strong. Mobile money systems, real-time payments and QR-based acceptance are well established and widely trusted. This has resulted in mass adoption even in regions with limited traditional banking penetration. However, back-end infrastructure still needs a degree of improvement, particularly for businesses and treasury teams. “Finally, ongoing investment is needed in regulatory infrastructure, including clearer frameworks for digital payments, settlement institutions and cross-border flows,” concludes Farooq. “Where regulation, technology and banking infrastructure are aligned, digital payments scale effectively. Where they are not, treasury complexity persists.”
