Policy And Regulatory Developments Shaping Africa’s Fintech Landscape (2024-2025) And Projections For The Coming Years — Part I

Fintech, which is short for financial technology, is a catch-all term that includes many elements, including the digital technologies that are transforming financial services, technology-driven innovations in finance, and firms that are driving digital financial services.

A discussion about the evolution of fintech in Africa would be incomplete without mentioning M-Pesa. Launched in Kenya in 2007, M-Pesa demonstrated Africa’s ability to leapfrog traditional banking systems and embrace innovative financial solutions tailored to its unique needs.

Nearly two decades later after the launch of M-Pesa, fintech has become a cornerstone of Africa’s digital economy. It is helping in democratising financial services, creating jobs, and attracting billions in investment.

Fintech activities in Africa are currently dominated by E-money solutions like M-Pesa (89%), followed by digital payments (78%), digital lending (56%), crowdfunding (33%), and crypto assets (22%). Robo-advisory, and insurance technology (Insurtech) business models are also gaining momentum.

Likewise, digital-only banks are emerging rapidly, particularly in countries like Nigeria and South Africa. Similarly, Buy-Now-Pay-Later solutions are expanding, especially in African markets with a growing middle class and rising consumer credit demand.

As fintech innovations continue to expand and become mainstream, the need for sound policies, laws, and public policy initiatives has grown. These measures are essential to mitigate risks, unlock opportunities, and ensure that fintech innovations thrive sustainably.

The policy, legal, and regulatory response to fintech in Africa can be viewed through multiple lenses.

Some measures are being implemented within regional blocs such as the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of West African States (EWOWAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Others are taking shape at the continental level through bodies like the African Union (AU). Equally, at the country or national level, the policy, legal, and regulatory response has taken various forms, including:

• Launching national fintech strategies,
• Instituting public policy measures such as open banking/finance, regulatory sandboxes, innovation hubs, and accelerators that facilitate and enable fintech innovations,
• Developing bespoke licencing, prudential and market conduct rules that apply to fintech activities.
• Developing rules that apply to the use of digital technologies in different aspects of the financial services value chain.

In this three-part blog series, we will be rounding up some of the notable policy, legal, and regulatory developments that have shaped Africa’s fintech landscape in 2024 and 2025 so far, while also connecting these to earlier developments. Additionally, we will provide projections on how the policy and regulatory landscape is likely to evolve in the coming years.

In this first installment of the series, we will shine the light on two key developments. One is the Digital Trade Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The other is Rwanda’s National Fintech Strategy.

• AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol

While there have been treaties that cover issues addressing technology in finance, rarely has a treaty specifically captured “financial technology” as a subject of focus until the Digital Trade Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This protocol was adopted by the AU in February 2024, and while it primarily focuses on digital trade, it also lays the groundwork for cross-border fintech collaboration in Africa. The protocol requires African countries to:

• Promote collaboration between their fintech enterprises,
• Support fintech enterprises in exploring new business opportunities in other African countries, and
• Facilitate the development of fintech solutions.

The protocol also calls on African countries to adopt regional, continental, and international standards on fintech. Truly, global standard-setting bodies and forums have been issuing policy recommendations and standards that can guide the efforts of African countries in regulating fintech

Some notable international policy recommendations on fintech include the Bali Fintech Agenda, which was prepared by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as the Sochi Accord on Inclusive Fintech, developed by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.

Equally, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)  has issued policy recommendations for crypto and digital asset markets, while the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has issued a standard on the prudential treatment of banks’ exposures to crypto assets and new and revised principles on operational resilience and operational risk.

Another provision of the Digital Trade Protocol emphasises the need for countries to be transparent with their laws and policies on the subjects captured under the protocol. Within a fintech context, this will mean that countries should make their fintech-related laws, policies, and other resources publicly accessible, including through digital means. If implemented, this can significantly reduce the friction fintechs face when expanding across borders.

The annexes, which the protocol specified should be developed on fintech and some other subjects, have not only been developed but also adopted by the AU in February 2025, a year after the protocol was adopted. The fintech annex is not yet publicly available, and it will be fascinating to see the detailed provisions it outlines to support fintech in Africa.

The protocol requires ratification by 22 countries to come into force, and its provisions will only apply to those that have ratified it. It is hoped that, as many African countries have shown keen interest in pursuing digital transformation goals, the protocol will receive the needed ratifications sooner rather than later.

• Rwanda’s national fintech strategy

National fintech strategies help countries to frame, in the national context, the policy objectives, direction, and initiatives that will guide not only the regulation but also the development of their fintech ecosystem.

Rwanda has always been a trailblazer in Africa’s tech space, and the country has sought to solidify its position with its National Fintech Strategy (2024-2029). Launched in November 2024, the strategy sets the ambitious targets for Rwanda to:

• Grow the number of fintech players from 75 to 300 by 2028.
• Create 7,500 jobs in the sector.
• Attract $200 million in fintech investments.
• Achieve an 80% fintech adoption rate, up from 33.3%.
• Using Findexable’s Global Fintech rankings as a benchmark, secure a spot in the top 30 globally and best in Africa, improving from its current global rank of 61st and 5th in Africa.

Other African countries have issued similar policy documents. The Central Bank of Egypt has released the Fintech and Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2019.

Likewise, South Africa’s Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) issued the South Africa Fintech Vision in 2020.

And in 2022, the National Fintech Strategy was launched in Nigeria alongside the country’s updated National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

An interesting point to note from all these policy documents is the goal of all these countries to lead Africa’s fintech market.

In the next blog, we will turn our attention to Kenya’s plans to regulate crypto assets, Tanzania’s regulatory sandbox initiative, and South Africa’s open finance and AI regulation initiatives.

Written by Dr. Albert Puja & Prof. Vivienne Lawack of the African Fintech Law and Regulation Network (AFLARN)

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