Africa’s most important financial story isn’t unfolding on trading floors or in Silicon Valley – it’s happening on mobile phones.
From Accra to Mombasa, ordinary people are using digital tools to move, save and protect their money in ways the traditional system never allowed. The combination of mobile money, stablecoins and simple AI-powered finance tools is turning financial inclusion into something tangible. It’s not even about chasing crypto gains; it’s about building everyday resilience.
Despite the hype around Africa’s fintech boom, the continent still faces sobering realities. According to the World Bank’s 2024 Global Findex, only about 55% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa have a bank or mobile-money account. Financial literacy is even lower: 42% of South Africans and less than 30% in most low-income countries understand basic financial concepts.
That leaves millions excluded from formal credit, savings and insurance. Even for those inside the system, high fees, poor service, and volatile currencies erode trust.
Yet where banks stall, innovation fills the gap. More than two billion mobile-money accounts now exist globally – most of them in Africa – with about half a billion active every month. For the first time, the infrastructure for low-cost digital payments and savings exists at scale.
Enter stablecoins – digital tokens pegged to major currencies such as the dollar or euro. They remove one of the biggest barriers in African finance: volatility.
According to Chainalysis, sub-Saharan Africa processed over $54bn in stablecoin transactions between mid-2023 and mid-2024, accounting for 43% of all crypto activity in the region.
For freelancers, small exporters and migrant workers, this stability matters. It shields income from currency swings and slashes the cost of cross-border transfers, still among the world’s highest at between 6% and 7%. By converting earnings into digital dollars, many protect purchasing power and bypass the fee-heavy banking system.
Critics often frame crypto as speculative, but in Africa the opposite is true: it’s a tool of survival and efficiency, not gambling.
The real transformation happens when stablecoins meet mobile-money ecosystems. With the right integration, users can convert digital dollars into local currency instantly – to pay bills, school fees or groceries.
This connection between crypto and cash bridges the on- and off-ramps of the financial system. A Kenyan vendor can hold digital dollars as savings during a shilling slump, then cash out to M-Pesa when she needs to buy stock. A student can receive tuition funds from abroad in minutes without waiting days for a SWIFT transfer.
It doesn’t replace the banking system – it complements it, fixing what banks don’t: speed, affordability and reach.
Technology is also changing how Africans learn about and manage money. AI-powered tools, once reserved for institutional investors, now help individuals make safer choices. Simple chatbots explain fees and risks in local languages, while savings apps use machine learning to nudge better habits – rounding up small purchases into digital savings or warning against risky bets.
These innovations do more than automate finance; they humanise it, especially for first-time investors navigating complex products with limited education.
Still, no technology can replace trust. Africa’s digital-finance revolution will only scale if users feel their money is safe.
Here, wallet security and digital hygiene are essential. Whether using a “hot” wallet (online) or “cold” storage (offline), the principle remains the same: security is a habit, not a setting. Multi-factor authentication, withdrawal whitelists and awareness of phishing scams are the new basic literacy skills.
Financial inclusion, in other words, isn’t just about access – it’s about confidence. A wallet or app is only empowering if people believe it will protect their value tomorrow.
Governments are slowly adapting. Several central banks are moving from prohibition to proportionate oversight. South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority now requires crypto licensing, and Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority is drafting a digital-assets framework.
Done right, such regulation can legitimise innovation rather than stifle it – ensuring digital finance serves inclusion, not exploitation. The priority is clear consumer protection and transparent reserves, especially for stablecoins.
The broader opportunity is immense. Digital assets can help households retain more of what they earn, improve small-business cash flow and reduce the friction of cross-border trade. The United Nations estimates that cutting remittance costs to 3% – the global target – could free up $10bn annually for African families.
Combine that with AI-driven risk tools and localised financial education, and the digital-inclusion dividend becomes clear: more people making smarter, cheaper and safer financial decisions.
A mother in Kigali saving a few digital dollars for school fees. A farmer in Accra using mobile money to hedge against currency swings. A young coder in Mombasa learning to self-custody his first wallet … These are not stories of disruption for its own sake. They’re stories of adaptation and agency – proof that the future of money in Africa will be written not by hype, but by habit.
And perhaps that’s the real lesson for the world: financial inclusion doesn’t begin with technology – it begins with trust.
Larry Cooke, who joined Binance in August 2023, guides the firm through Africa’s regulatory landscape. A former South African Reserve Bank legal counsel and senior at Absa Group, he aligns Binance’s African operations with global compliance standards. He holds a Master of Laws in Company Law and a postgraduate diploma in Commercial and Business Law.
Top image: Rawpixel/Currency collage
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