The Future of Payments in Africa: Hybrid, Borderless, and Inclusive

Africa processes $2 million in mobile money every minute today — but what will payments on the continent look like by 2035? Three major forces are reshaping how 1.5 billion Africans will exchange value: hybrid transformation, borderless integration, and inclusive finance. In this strategic industry discussion, three payment leaders from across the continent join Afridigest for a granular exploration of the trends that will define African payments over the next decade: 🎯 Wiza Jalakasi – Director of Africa Market Development at Brazilian unicorn EBANX 🎯 Mathias Léopoldie – CEO & Co-founder of Ivorian B2B payments platform Julaya 🎯 Francis Ogbuka – VP of Sales & Business Development at Nigerian blockchain-powered payments platform Zone Moderated by Afridigest's Emeka Ajene What You'll Learn: ✅ Four distinct archetypes of payment markets across the continent ✅ How mobile money is evolving from cash-in/cash-out to comprehensive financial ecosystems ✅ The implications of consumer fragmentation and infrastructure integration ✅ How blockchain and stablecoins are solving actual payment problems in African markets ✅ Real-world challenges of cross-border payments (why money from Lagos to Accra routes through New York) ✅ Why MSMEs need consumer-like user experiences but enterprise-level features Critical Topics Discussed: • The collision of physical and digital payments (M-Pesa evolution case study) • Infrastructure integrators becoming value concentration points (Examples of NIBSS, Meeza) • Service provider convergence: banks becoming telcos, telcos becoming banks • PAPSS enabling direct African currency trading for the first time • Zone's regulated blockchain network connecting Nigerian banks and fintechs • Wave's pure-player mobile money success in Francophone Africa • Contextual credit using driving data (Moove's Uber partnership model) • Examples of community-powered savings, lending, and investing This discussion received 5-star ratings from attendees of the live webinar who called it "the best breakdown of payments in Africa" they'd seen. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction, Speakers, & Agenda 01:56 Africa's Four Payment Archetypes 08:25 Market Context: Fintech & Payments in Africa 10:42 Three Forces Reshaping Payments in Africa 11:52 Force 1: Hybrid Transformation in Africa 12:33 Case Study: Collision of Physical & Digital 19:32 Case Study: Collision of Consumer Fragmentation & Infrastructure Integration 28:48 Case Study: Collision of Banks, Telcos, Fintechs 34:50 Force 2: Borderless Africa 35:59 Case Study: Borderless Regulations 37:29 Case Study: Borderless Initiatives - Public Sector 45:40 Case Study: Borderless Initiatives - Private Sector 53:38 Force 3: Inclusive Finance 54:23 Case Study: MSME Enablement 1:00:28 Case Study: Contextual Credit 1:03:27 Case Study: Community-Centered Systems 1:07:17 Conclusion & Global Implications This webinar was recorded in July 2025 and is presented by Zone (https://zonenetwork.com) and Afridigest (https://afridigest.com) as part of our commitment to helping founders, investors, and policymakers across Africa's financial technology landscape to succeed. _________________ Next Steps: 📄 Download the full research whitepaper: "The Future of Payments in Africa: Hybrid, Borderless, and Inclusive" (PDF): https://bit.ly/FOPA2025 📧 Subscribe to Afridigest newsletter: afridigest.com/subscribe Follow us: 🔗 LinkedIn:   / afridigest   𝕏 Twitter/X:   / afridigesthq   🅾 Instagram:   / afridigest   #africa #businessinafrica #africanbusiness #africatech #techinafrica #fintech #fintechinafrica #mobilemoney #africanpayments #paymentsinafrica