Africa’s instant payment systems processed 64 billion transactions worth nearly two trillion United States dollars in 2024, demonstrating the continent’s rapid digital transformation and progress toward inclusive financial systems, according to the State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems (SIIPS) 2025 Report released Thursday.
The report, produced by AfricaNenda Foundation in partnership with the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), reveals that 36 systems are now operational across 31 African countries, with five launched over the past year alone. The figures represent remarkable growth from 2022, when 32 billion transactions worth 1.2 trillion dollars were processed.
Dr. Robert Ochola, Chief Executive Officer of AfricaNenda Foundation, emphasized the transformative impact of these systems during the launch in Eswatini. “Inclusive instant payments are transforming how Africans connect economically,” he stated. “The findings of SIIPS 2025 show clear progress. More countries are adopting instant payment systems, and more people are gaining access to digital financial services that support livelihoods, trade, and growth across the continent.”
Now in its fourth edition, SIIPS 2025 serves as Africa’s leading benchmark for inclusive instant payment systems. The report highlights increasing interoperability, with half of Africa’s systems now connecting banks, mobile money operators, and fintechs through cross domain platforms.
Nigeria achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first African country to reach mature inclusivity on the AfricaNenda Inclusivity Spectrum. The Nigerian InterBank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), operating the country’s Instant Payments platform, earned this distinction after establishing a robust dispute resolution mechanism, the final requirement for the highest inclusivity level.
Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, received the recognition during the launch event to a standing ovation from bankers, investors, and participants. The achievement follows Nigeria’s advancement from progressed to mature status, demonstrating what full inclusivity requires: expanded use cases, affordability, and reliable dispute resolution.
Ten other African payment systems advanced to progressed levels of inclusivity, though Ghana’s GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP) and Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) remained at the progressed stage where they have been since 2022 when Ghana became the first country to reach that level.
Niraj Verma, Acting Global Director for Finance, Competitiveness and Investment at the World Bank, acknowledged Africa’s steady progress but called for greater ambition. “The latest SIIPS report shows steady progress across Africa in the uptake of fast payments, which is promising and represents a great start, but there is much work to be done,” Verma noted.
She urged countries without fast payment systems to begin implementations while those already operating them should focus on greater inclusivity, innovation, and affordability. “At the World Bank Group, we believe fast payments development promotes broader goals such as financial inclusion, job creation, and trade facilitation,” Verma added, highlighting Project FASTT’s role in helping countries build payment ecosystems through financing, technical assistance, and capacity building.
The report indicates that instant payment systems are expanding beyond person to person transfers to enable person to business, government to person, and cross border payments. However, adoption rates vary significantly across demographics and markets.
Research conducted in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, and Tunisia found that individuals are adopting digital payments faster than merchants, particularly in emerging and nascent markets. Adults over 30 with regular income remain the most active users, while young adults and women continue facing barriers including fraud concerns, lack of identification, and limited access to agents.
Between 50 and 75 percent of cash first users cited fraud risks as a key barrier to adoption. Dr. Mactar Seck, Chief of Section for Innovation and Technology at UNECA, stressed the need for intentional inclusion. “For digital payments to reach everyone, inclusion must be intentional,” Seck said. “The data from SIIPS 2025 gives policymakers and regulators the confirmation they need to design ecosystems that serve marginalized parts of Africa’s communities: women, youth, the informal sector, and those in rural communities at large.”
The report identifies significant opportunities for growth through digital public infrastructure integration, government to person payments, and cross border interoperability. With 36 countries now having live instant payment systems, digital identification systems, and data protection laws, better coordination could make Africa’s financial ecosystem more inclusive and secure.
Scaling government to person payments and cross border use cases will require improved digital identity coverage, regulatory harmonization, and stronger collaboration between public and private sectors. These efforts are crucial to Africa’s ambition of creating a single, digitally connected market.
The launch event, hosted by the Central Bank of Eswatini from November 11 to 14, 2025, brought together central banks, payment operators, policymakers, development partners, and media from across the continent to discuss how inclusive instant payments can drive Africa’s digital future.
The dramatic growth in transaction volumes and values underscores the continent’s accelerating shift from cash based economies to digital financial systems. The doubling of transaction volumes from 32 billion in 2022 to 64 billion in 2024 demonstrates both increased system availability and growing consumer confidence in digital payments.
However, the report emphasizes that technological infrastructure alone is insufficient. Creating truly inclusive systems requires addressing trust deficits, ensuring affordability for low income users, expanding agent networks in rural areas, and establishing robust consumer protection mechanisms including effective dispute resolution processes.
The full SIIPS 2025 Report is available at www.africanenda.org/en/siips2025, offering comprehensive data insights, country case studies, and evidence based recommendations on Africa’s evolving payments landscape.
