The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is calling on African countries to prioritise the integration of their digital finance systems, arguing that the continent’s next phase of economic growth depends on how well fragmented platforms are connected.
According to the IFC, Africa’s digital finance ecosystem has reached a turning point where expanding access is no longer the main hurdle. Instead, the focus must shift toward building seamless, interoperable systems that can drive productivity, scale businesses, and deliver shared prosperity.
Ms Nathalie Kouassi-Akon, Divisional Director for West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea at the IFC, made the call during a curtain raiser speech on day two of the 2026 3i Africa Summit in Accra on Thursday.
Speaking at a session on Harnessing Continental Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Development, she explained that Africa’s growth ambitions would depend on its ability to move beyond isolated digital solutions toward a more coordinated and connected financial architecture.
Participants at the session stressed that aligning capital, digital platforms, and markets across borders could significantly improve efficiency, help businesses expand, and generate sustainable employment opportunities.
Ms Kouassi-Akon described digital public infrastructure as a critical pillar of economic competitiveness, comparable to traditional investments such as roads and energy systems. She urged governments, regulators, and private sector players to work collectively to overcome fragmentation across national systems.
She illustrated the potential impact of integration, noting that true transformation would occur when digital systems across African countries can communicate seamlessly. In such a scenario, individuals and businesses would be able to access financial services, trade across borders, and build enterprises that create jobs within their communities.
Despite notable progress in expanding digital access, she highlighted persistent gaps. More than 191 million Africans gained access to digital payments between 2014 and 2025, yet over 60 per cent of people within broadband coverage areas remain unconnected.
She also pointed out that Africans pay up to 35 per cent more for digital tools than users in other regions, a cost burden that limits inclusion and undermines the benefits of digital finance.
Ms Kouassi-Akon warned that fragmented systems continue to constrain growth, noting that payment networks across the continent often do not communicate effectively, data cannot move securely across borders, and small businesses struggle to scale beyond their domestic markets.
She cautioned that without addressing these structural challenges, Africa risks achieving growth without productivity gains, innovation without efficiency, and financial access without broad-based prosperity.
To address these issues, she identified key priorities, including the development of shared digital identity systems, interoperable payment platforms, trusted data exchange frameworks, and expanded broadband infrastructure.
These, she said, are essential for supporting cross-border trade, strengthening regional value chains, and advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area.
She further stressed the importance of strong governance frameworks, including robust data protection laws, cybersecurity standards, and accountability mechanisms to build trust among users, investors, and institutions.
The IFC also called on the private sector to take a more active role, not just as service providers but as co-investors in building Africa’s digital infrastructure.
Ms Kouassi-Akon pointed to shared infrastructure models such as carrier-neutral broadband networks, independent tower companies, and shared data centres as cost-effective approaches to scaling connectivity.
She disclosed that the IFC has invested more than 9.6 billion US dollars in digital infrastructure over the past decade, supporting developments in cloud computing, digital finance, and artificial intelligence across Africa.
These investments include support for a pan-African data centre platform expanding tier-three certified facilities in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Referencing Ghana’s mobile money success story, she noted that it demonstrates what can be achieved when innovation, regulation, and infrastructure are effectively aligned, and called for similar models to be replicated across the continent.
She added that while Africa’s digital economy is set to grow, the key question remains who will build, own, and benefit from it. With the right level of integration, she said, the gains can be driven by Africans and for Africans, ensuring inclusive and sustainable economic transformation.
