African payment firms surge by double in half a decade
In its fifth year, the Cross-Border Payments 100 list has established itself as the definitive benchmark of the industry. This year's edition features companies from various sectors, with Africa emerging as a significant player.
The continent is becoming a real hot spot for companies in the cross-border payments industry. The high demand for mobile money, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half of mobile money users depend solely on it to access financial services, is driving this growth.
Since 2019, there has been a significant increase in the number of African companies featured in the list. This year, six African companies are included, a 100% increase from 2019. The emerging markets in Africa are taking up more market share in the cross-border payments industry than ever before.
The list features companies in sectors such as money transfers, payments processing, ecommerce, B2B, and more. The boom in Africa is due to the development of compelling cross-border payment solutions tailored to the continent's needs and infrastructure.
Key examples of African companies on the cross-border payments radar include:
- Moniepoint Inc. (Nigeria): Founded in 2015, Moniepoint has grown into a leading African digital banking and payments platform, serving over 10 million customers and processing more than $22 billion in transactions monthly. Its international reach has expanded with platforms like MonieWorld available in the UK.
- Tunisia-based Konnect and Moroccan PayTic: These fintechs focus on instant cross-border payments and back-office digital payment solutions respectively. Both were supported through Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator and have attracted investments to scale their services across North Africa and beyond.
- Kenyan digital bank Umba: Originally launched in Nigeria and relocated to Kenya in 2023, Umba aims to serve underserved markets across Africa with accessible banking and credit products. Its recent funding supports expansion efforts continent-wide.
Other ecosystem developments include partnerships and funding rounds to boost faster cross-border payment infrastructure targeting Africa, such as PayPal and TerraPay’s efforts to improve instant cross-border payouts into Africa.
The African companies included in the list are categorized into seven groups: VC/growth equity backed, independently owned, banks, private equity backed, crypto, and public companies.
Nigeria is seeing efforts to stimulate the development of digital payment solutions and the wider digital economy. North America continues to dominate the industry, but the growth of African companies is significant. The geographical spread of companies in the top 100 is now more dispersed than ever before.
South Africa is part of the African countries with a growing presence in the cross-border payments industry. Demand for remittances has generally been picking up in sub-Saharan and North Africa.
Daniel Webber, CEO and founder of the platform, stated that there has been a boom of key industry players in Africa. The 2023 Cross-Border Payments 100 list includes African companies such as Orange Money, MPesa, Flutterwave, MFS Africa, Mukuru, and MTN Mobile.
References:
[1] PayPal and TerraPay Partner to Improve Cross-Border Payments in Africa. (2023). Retrieved 10 April 2023, from https://www.paypal-mediacenter.com/global/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/paypal-and-terrapay-partner-to-improve-cross-border-payments-in-africa
[2] Moniepoint's International Expansion: A Look at the UK-Based MonieWorld. (2023). Retrieved 10 April 2023, from https://www.techcrunch.com/2023/02/15/moniepoints-international-expansion-a-look-at-the-uk-based-monieworld/
[3] Visa's Africa Fintech Accelerator Graduates Five Fintechs. (2023). Retrieved 10 April 2023, from https://www.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/visas-africa-fintech-accelerator-graduates-five-fintechs.html
The significant growth in Africa's cross-border payments industry can be attributed to the increasing demand for mobile money, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half of mobile money users depend solely on it for financial services.
This year's Cross-Border Payments 100 list, featuring six African companies, demonstrates a 100% increase from 2019, showcasing the growing market share of emerging African markets in the cross-border payments industry.
