E-Financial
Sub- Saharan Africa is the Fastest Growth Frontier for Fintech Firms – GSMA
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest-growing investment zones for financial technology companies, according the trade body that represents the interests of global mobile network operators.
The GSM Association (GSMA) says in its Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan Africa 2019 report that the region will remain the fastest growing worldwide.
Predicting a total subscriber base of over 600 million by 2025, which represents approximately half the population, Sub-Saharan Africa will become a flagship for mobile disruption.
According to Mike Smits, co-founder of the uKheshe micro transaction platform, the unbanked are one of the driving forces behind this growth.
“Mastercard reports that while around 1.2 billion adults opened bank accounts for the first time over the past decade, 1.7 billion remain outside the formal banking sector worldwide,” Smits says.
“Our challenge, as a continent, is to reach these ‘unbanked’ individuals and better understand, as financial service providers, why they opt to stay in the informal sector.”
Smits says since the launch of uKheshe 10 months ago, the plight for financial inclusion has become glaringly obvious. “While progress has been made in terms of mobile money, it’s become imperative that we move beyond that and look into digital payment solutions.
“What we have realised is that financial inclusion is not just about technology disruption, but more about solving greater economic problems.”
He says consumers need simpler, more cost-effective ways to do simple tasks, such as sending or receiving money and buying airtime.
Mobile operators on the continent have over the past few years been entrenching themselves in the financial services sector to cover the unbanked and make transactions simpler.
Last week, MTN Group announced its fintech transactions reached R666 billion ($44 billion) in the six months to June.
The JSE-listed telco says its fintech strategy is starting to pay off, reporting a 30.7% hike – customer growth went up 8.9% to 30 million, while active Mobile Money (MoMo) users and average revenue per user is pegged at R19.60 ($1.30).
The total value of fintech transactions in the first half of the year to June reached a peak of $44 billion and the company processed 9 193 transactions per minute.
The mobile operator has been actively pushing to be a dominant force in the financial services space on the continent.
M-Pesa in Kenya remains the mobile money business case study of payment innovation in emerging markets. It was launched 12 years ago.
In Southern Africa, EcoCash is a success story in Zimbabwe. It is a mobile payment platform hosted by local telco Econet. EcoCash is an offshoot of Cassava Smartech, an entity that offers more financial services than mobile money, including remittances, digital banking and all kinds of insurance.
The GSMA report adds that in 2018, mobile technologies and services generated 4.6% of GDP globally, a contribution that amounted to $3.9 trillion of economic value added.
“The mobile ecosystem also supported almost 32 million jobs (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with more than $500 billion raised through general taxation”
According to the GSMA report, by 2023, mobile’s contribution is forecast to reach $4.8 trillion (4.8% of GDP) as countries around the globe increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services.
Further ahead, the report says 5G technologies are expected to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economy over the next 15 years, with key sectors such as manufacturing, utilities and professional/financial services benefiting the most from the new technology.
At the end of 2018, 3.6 billion people were connected to the mobile Internet, the report says, representing an increase of just over 300 million compared to the previous year. However, more than four billion people remain offline.
Further, it says around a billion of these are not covered by mobile broadband networks (the ‘coverage gap’), while around three billion live within the footprint of a network but are not accessing mobile Internet services (the ‘usage gap’).
“Over the next few years, as the enablers of mobile Internet adoption (infrastructure, affordability, consumer readiness and content/services) continue to improve, millions of people will start using the mobile Internet for the first time. By 2025, five billion people across the globe (more than 60% of the population) will use the mobile Internet,” reads the report.
West Africa is fast emerging as a global epicentre for virtual asset adoption, propelled by a young, tech-savvy population and macroeconomic instability, according to Dr. Emomotimi Agama, director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria.
Dr. Emomotimi Agama, DG, SEC
Speaking at the West Africa Compliance Summit organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in Praia, Cape Verde, Dr. Agama warned that while the region’s embrace of digital currencies is accelerating, the absence of coordinated regulation leaves it vulnerable to financial crimes and illicit capital flows.
“With over 60 percent of West Africa’s population under the age of 25 and mobile-first fintech platforms thriving, the region has become a global hotspot for virtual asset adoption,” he said. “But we must act decisively. Regulation is not optional, it is an imperative.”
The summit, themed “Adapting and Thriving in a Complex and Evolving Compliance Landscape,” brought together financial regulators, compliance professionals, and security experts to explore the challenges posed by the rapid rise of virtual assets and decentralised finance (DeFi).
Dr. Agama disclosed that crypto transactions in Nigeria alone surpassed $56 billion in 2024, with citizens increasingly turning to stablecoins such as USDT and USDC to hedge against volatile local currencies.
He highlighted the growing trend of “crypto-dollarisation,” noting that young professionals now demand salaries in stablecoins, while businesses are adopting platforms like Binance Pay for cross-border transactions.
“The naira’s depreciation, Ghana’s cedi weakness, and persistent forex shortages have fueled this shift,” he explained.
“Traditional remittance channels charge up to 10 percent in fees, while cryptocurrencies offer faster and cheaper alternatives. Over $20 billion in remittances flowed into West Africa last year through crypto channels.”
However, he also cautioned that the same innovations driving financial efficiency are increasingly being exploited by fraudsters and criminal actors.
He cited GIABA’s report of $2.1 billion in suspicious crypto-related transactions across West Africa in 2024 alone, including the use of privacy coins by terror financiers to evade detection.
“Unregulated exchanges, artificial market crashes, DeFi ‘rug pulls,’ and Ponzi schemes have wiped out billions in investor funds,” he said. “The recent collapse of the CBEX Ponzi platform is just one of many such incidents. Strong regulation and regional coordination are the only path forward.”
Dr. Agama pointed to Nigeria’s recent legislative progress, especially the enactment of the Investment and Securities Act 2025, which formally classifies virtual assets—including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, utility tokens, and NFTs—as securities under Section 355(4) and Part I of the Second Schedule.
“Under the new law, all exchanges, wallets, and DeFi platforms must be licensed by the SEC,” he stated.
“We’ve also established a Fintech and Innovation Department to facilitate ongoing dialogue with industry stakeholders and adapt our regulations to emerging realities.”
He called on West African governments to harmonise regulatory frameworks and strengthen intelligence-sharing, proposing a Unified Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Licensing System under the ECOWAS framework.
“A crypto trader banned in Nigeria should not find safe haven in Ghana,” he asserted.
“Financial crime knows no borders. Our collective future depends on our ability to secure this emerging financial frontier.”
Banks in the country have begun suspending instant transaction alerts for cheques drawn from other banks until such cheques are fully cleared.
This is in compliance with a recent directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This new policy affects customers who receive cheques from other banks, signaling a major change in how cheque payments are confirmed.
According to the CBN directive, the move is intended to prevent confusion around the status of cheque payments and to curb premature release of goods and services before the actual receipt of funds.
In an email sent to its customers, Access Bank stated that moving forward, alerts for cheques deposited into accounts will only be sent after the cheque has been completely processed.
This is to notify you of the recent directive by the CBN which requires banks to send transaction alerts on payments of other bank cheque only upon cheque clearance.
This means that you would only receive alerts for other banks’ cheques paid into your account after the cheque has been fully processed, that is, after the funds are paid into your account or if the cheque is unpaid and and returned from the other bank.
As a result of this new directive, you will no longer receive alerts for cheques lodged into your account until the cheque is cleared or returned”, the bank stated.
Access Bank also advised customers to monitor their accounts through other available channels such as the AccessMore app, internet banking platforms, PrimusPlus, and the USSD service *901# to stay updated on the status of their cheque deposits.
To track your transactions and ensure you do not part with your goods and services prior to payment. Please use our other channels; Accessmore, Internet banking, PrimusPlus, *901#.
We remain committed to delivering seamless and secure banking services to you always”, it said.
The CBN’s directive is designed to protect both payees and payers by ensuring that goods or services are not exchanged before the actual payment has been confirmed.
Previously, customers often received immediate alerts once a cheque was lodged, leading to confusion when the cheque was later dishonoured.
A banking industry insider commented, “This change is critical in promoting financial discipline. It safeguards businesses from losses due to bounced cheques and helps maintain the integrity of cheque payments.”
While digital payment methods are on the rise in Nigeria, cheques still remain a significant payment instrument in various sectors, particularly in wholesale trade and business-to-business transactions.
The apex bank’s new guideline is expected to strengthen trust in cheque transactions by ensuring that payment confirmations are accurate and timely.
As the financial ecosystem evolves, this move is one among several measures aimed at enhancing the safety and reliability of banking transactions across Nigeria.
Credit: Daily Sun
Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc (“Sterling HoldCo”) has reported a remarkable 157% year-on-year growth in profit-after-tax, hitting ₦41.78 billion for the half-year ended June 30, 2025. This jump from ₦16.26 billion in H1 2024 reflects the Group’s strategic excellence and operational resilience.
Yemi Odubiyi
Profit after tax rose to ₦41.78 billion, while earnings per share climbed to 89 Kobo from 56 Kobo in the prior period. Gross earnings increased by 39.7%, reaching ₦212.61 billion. Interest income grew by 38.3% to ₦167.16 billion, and non-interest income surged 45% to ₦45.45 billion.
The Group’s cost-to-income ratio also improved significantly, declining from 75.7% to 64.5%, thanks to focused cost optimisation.
Sterling HoldCo’s total assets increased to ₦4.08 trillion as of June 2025, up 15.3% from ₦3.54 trillion in December 2024. Shareholders’ funds rose by 22.9% during the period, driven by strong retained earnings and successful recapitalisation. Asset quality also improved, with the non-performing loan ratio down to 5.1% from 5.4%.
Building on its financial strength, the Group completed a ₦100 billion private placement and rights issue, which enabled the recapitalisation of Alternative Bank and bolstered Sterling Bank’s capital base. A public offer to raise an additional ₦53 billion is set to launch in the coming weeks, forming the first phase of a US$400 million capital programme approved at the Group’s Annual General Meeting on June 30, 2025.
Group CEO Yemi Odubiyi attributed the half-year performance to strategic clarity and operational agility, noting that the results reflect resilience and value creation in a dynamic macroeconomic environment.
He reiterated the Group’s commitment to responsible growth, sustainable impact, and continued investment in Nigeria’s growth sectors, including renewable energy, healthcare, and community development.
Sterling HoldCo remains focused on leveraging its robust capital strategy to fuel long-term expansion, innovate across its financial services, and deepen its contribution to Nigeria’s economic progress.
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