Why Fintech in Africa is Attractive to Investors & Innovators

Africa’s largest banks, in terms of annual revenue, are concentrated in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and to a lesser extent, Morocco.

Not surprisingly, this maps quite well with the largest economies on the continent — South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt lead the way in terms of annual GDP, and Morocco is fifth, just behind Algeria.

The financial services sector as a whole—banks, insurance operators, asset managers, and other financial services players—accounts for ~20% of the 600 or so companies across the continent with annual revenues over $500M; it’s the leading sector among Africa’s top revenue-generating companies.

It’s no surprise, then, that fintech leads all venture capital funding on the continent.

And with large swathes of the population unbanked, underbanked, and underserved, there still remain myriad opportunities for banks and fintechs across Africa to collaborate and/or compete to broaden & deepen financial inclusion across the continent.