Simon de la Rey, CIO at Platcorp
When international investors think ‘fintech’ their first thought may not be Africa. In 2026, it should be. The African tech sector overall has seen explosive growth: between 2015 and 2022, the number of tech firms receiving funding each year multiplied sevenfold to more than 700; one of the fastest growth rates in the world. Within this, fintech is especially privileged, receiving the most investment and accounting for eight of Africa’s nine unicorns.
However, it’s not just this rapid expansion that is enticing. African fintech enjoys a unique position in its ability to trigger disproportionate cross-sector gains. Each dollar invested creates a ripple effect that extends beyond the industry, elevating access and service in critical areas such healthcare, agriculture, and climate resilience. Financing fintech in Africa, then, represents more than an investment in other regions. It’s about unlocking new opportunities, maximising long-term outcomes, and setting up the continent for the future.
Why fintech investment is so powerful
Over the next decade, fintech in Africa is set to take on a powerful role: fintech as infrastructure. The region is crying out for improvement here: Africa’s infrastructure needs are estimated to stand at $130 to $170 billion annually but current investment only equates to $80 billion, with African governments contributing approximately 40% of this figure. This gap is hurting the region’s economic prospects; estimated to cost the continent a 2% reduction in GDP growth.
But this is where fintech comes in. Fintech solutions can act as an enabling layer that allows new infrastructure solutions to spring up and thrive. Take, for instance, healthcare. Mobile technology is being used to help healthcare SMEs quickly and easily access loans, removing collateral requirements and taking repayment based on mobile money revenues. Encouraging the growth of such SMEs is critical in the region: it’s estimated that private healthcare providers deliver nearly 50% of all healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, including life-saving health interventions such as early malaria diagnosis and treatment, vaccinations, and ante-natal care.
Then there’s the support fintech provides on an individual level. The reliance on private healthcare can have a devastating impact on individuals, with the World Health Organisation reporting that in 2022, more than 423 million people in Africa faced financial hardship due to out-of-pocket health spending and over 384 million were pushed into, or further into, poverty. Again, fintech can help here, by providing solutions that can help expand low-cost health insurance coverage to uninsured groups or facilitate the use of remittances in paying for healthcare.
Another area that stands to greatly benefit from fintech is education. Solutions like SchoolPay are helping transform education financing, where inefficiencies lead to dropouts and financial instability in schools. By streamlining fee payments, facilitating micro-loans, providing schools with financial visibility and insights, and helping groups receive free education, they can improve education infrastructure and remove barriers to access.
Fintech’s role in preparing for the future
However, these are just two of the sectors that can benefit from the multiplying effect of fintech investment. Fintech has a large role to play within African agriculture and helping the continent build climate resilience. Agriculture contributes one fifth of Africa’s GDP so it is a critical sector, especially in the face of the increasing climate catastrophe that disproportionately affects the continent and hits every single aspect of socio-economic development, exacerbating hunger, insecurity, and displacement. Support for farmers, and especially smallholder farmers, then, is crucial in meeting the challenges of the climate crisis and food insecurity.
Similarly, tech solutions are helping meet these challenges. Not only are agtech firms helping provide vital information services, such as detailed weather reports, fintech solutions are helping smallholder farmers connect to new markets, access loans, and even lease tractors and machinery directly from owners. Such technology is critical in helping farmers access vital services and build resilience. The rewards are to be reaped on both sides of the cheque: one estimate places the market potential for agtech firms at over $2 billion.
Investment in African fintech unlocks a wealth of opportunity. Not only is it a smart financial decision in the short term, it represents a chance to achieve transformative, long-term outcomes across the continent. As financiers scour the globe to find investments with the highest impact, their eyes should be turning to Africa.
