A recent analysis by Visa has revealed that the continent’s digital payments landscape is still in its early stages, with only eight million merchants currently accepting digital transactions while 44 million remain on the sidelines.
Senior Vice President and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, Aida Diarra, noted that Africa is responsible for 70% of global mobile money activity, with fintech companies, mobile network operators, micro-lenders, and e-commerce players all advancing a mobile-first agenda.
In discussing alternative digital payment methods such as cryptocurrency, Diarra suggested that Africa’s larger markets might enjoy a first-mover advantage due to their unique operational landscapes. Markets such as South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria are already leading the way in cryptocurrency usage, and not only in Africa but globally.
She expressed optimism that other markets could similarly leapfrog traditional barriers as technology continues to evolve. She explained: “A few years back, looking at landlines and the numbers of households that did not have access, and then with mobile telephony coming, we went past that and created further access.
“The big economies will probably lead the (cryptocurrency) charge. With this, cost comes down, technology becomes nimbler, and adoption would be accelerating in other markets.”
Diarra also noted that in certain markets, where access to hard currency is challenging, the inherent dynamics of the local ecosystem have driven the adoption of cryptocurrency for issuing and making payments.
“This is something we need to continue to monitor, and that is likely to continue to grow. The good news is that regulators are beginning to appreciate this is a trend that’s here to stay, and that there needs to be proper rules and frameworks to make sure that they fully have visibility and continue to enable the use of such capabilities,” she said.
