African FinTech revenues projected to rise 13-fold by 2030, says Ambassador Ravi Menon

Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser, National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), Ravi Menon, has underscored the immense growth in revenues of African FinTech companies by 2030.

The Singaporean Ambassador and Senior Mentor at Elevandi, speaking at the 3i Africa Summit in Accra on Monday, May 13, 2024, quipped revenues by African FinTech companies are expected to rise by 13 times compared to the global average of 6 times by 2030.

In addition to the surge in revenue, the African Continent is projected to be the fastest-growing FinTech market in the world between 2023 and 2030.

In 2020, the fintech industry in Africa generated revenue of approximately $3.8 billion. By 2025, the value of revenue of Africa’s fintech industry could reach around $12 billion.

Global revenue from the FinTech industry around the world, per a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

Meanwhile, the African fintech market per the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is also projected to be worth around $65 billion by 2030.

Governments in Africa are prioritizing digitalization and financial inclusion through regulatory sandboxes and innovation offices. According to a BCG report, Africa is likely to be the fastest-growing FinTech market in the world between 2023 and 2030. FinTech revenues are expected to rise by 13 times, compared to the global average of 6 times,” remarked Ambassador Menon.

Speaking further at the 3i Africa Summit themed, “Unleashing the FinTech and digital economic potential of Africa”, Ambassador Menon averred Africa is at the cusp of a FinTech revolution that will transform the lives of hundreds of millions of Africans.

It was Africa which pioneered the use of mobile money with the hugely successful M-PESA. According to the World Bank, Africa leads the world with the largest number of mobile money accounts. A mobile money account allows anyone with a cell phone to transfer, store, and request money directly from their device, without a traditional bank account. Truly, this is a powerful demonstration of financial inclusion,” he quipped.

Ambassador Menon, however, noted that Africa has considerable challenges to overcome on its FinTech journey.

The challenges, he noted, include more than 40% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa not possessing legal proof of identity or a digital ID with women and ethnic minorities bearing the brunt of this digital exclusion.

Additionally, cross-border payment transactions within Africa are still quite expensive, as they are routed through overseas banks and involve currency swapping.

Finally, much of the African population remains unbanked or underbanked with only 35% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa having access to banking services.

According to Ambassador Menon, by focusing on financial inclusion FinTech can demonstrate its true purpose and potential in Africa.

More than anywhere else in the world, FinTech can demonstrate its true purpose and potential in Africa, by focusing on financial inclusion. There is great scope for collaboration between traditional financial institutions and private fintech companies to bridge financial and digital divides. Platforms like the 3i Africa Summit create the opportunity to realize Africa’s FinTech potential,” he quipped.

The 3i Africa Summit has brought together key players in the financial, investment, policy-regulatory and digital technology domains in Africa. These include 3 Heads of State, 10 Governors of Central Banks within and outside Africa including the Bank of Ghana’s Dr. Ernest Addison, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso and the National Bank of Rwanda’s Hon. John Rwangombwa.

In addition, there are over 150 Chief Executives and Senior Executives of FinTechs and Financial institutions across the globe including Serigne Dioum, CEO of MTN Group Fintech, Dr. Patrich Saidu Contech, CEO of Africa Fintech Network, Saurav Bhattacharya, CEO of Proxtera, Conrad Kraft, Strategic Advisor, DigitalEuro Association, and Co-Founder and CFO, Tradelite Solutions, Mariame MacIntosh Robinson, President of Qenta Inc., Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at MAS.

Over the three-day period, the participants will engage in over 15 sessions with speakers and discussants contributing to over 60 topics aimed at finding the pathways that deliver the most traction in the drive to generate momentum and achieve progress in line with the Summit’s theme, “Unleashing Africa’s Fintech and Digital economic potential”.