AFRICA’s Fintech & Investment Outlook 2025, Setting the Expectations

By Zekarias Amsalu*

2024 had a mixed bag for the African Fintech & Investment landscape – as expected and outlined in our prediction for 2024, the year has showed a $2.2B funding, that is some 25% YOY decline as per the report by Africa: The big Deal, at the backdrop of 46% YOY decline in 2023, when the ‘great VC freeze’ arrived to Africa after the highest tech funding was exhibited in 2022! While the overall YOY funding showed a decline, there is an encouraging nuance in the details – H2 funding had an 80% increase YOY showcasing that the ‘funding winter’ is slowly coming to an end paving way to an accelerated tech funding and investment cycle in 2025, albeit with corrected valuations and cautious investor moves. The year also has birthed 2 new African Fintech Unicorns in Moniepoint & Tyme.

Against the above backdrop, what can we expect in the African Fintech & Investment landscape in 2025? I hereby summarize what I expect the Fintech and Investment outlook of the continent will possibly look like.

A Year of Unpredictability, Uncertainty & Increasing Protectionism – While the continent is moving towards a single market under AfCFTA, the global geopolitical scene is increasingly being characterized as unpredictable, uncertain and protectionist that ultimately impact African fintechs participating in the global economy. While uncertainty is inevitable around global macroeconomic uncertainty, escalating geopolitical tensions and sanctions & trade restrictions, fintechs that remain agile, diversify revenue streams, and proactively engage with regulatory changes will be better positioned to thrive in 2025.

Stablecoins will achieve enterprise-wide usage in Africa - As highlighted in our Stablecoin & Africa report, stablecoins have proven their use cases & mass adoption in the P2P, remittance & cross border trade space in/with Africa and as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized systems. Stablecoins will now find accelerated adoption among businesses for cross-border transactions, institutional treasury management, B2B payments and supply chain efficiency in 2025 naturally leading into regulatory formalization & commercial & central banking adoptions in 2026 and beyond. This will create positive windfall for African crypto exchanges, orchestration startups, on/off ramp solution providers, global payroll solution startups and blockchain payment infrastructure startups.

Surge in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Activity - As competition intensifies and historical tech funding pace slows, smaller or mid-sized fintechs may merge or get acquired by larger players seeking to consolidate market share. 2025 will see a surge in M&A activity within Africa’s fintech landscape as companies seek scale and sustainability amid tighter funding conditions.

Consolidation & Shift Towards Profitability Over Growth: Investors are increasingly favoring sustainable business models over aggressive user acquisition. As a result, Fintechs will likely adapt by prioritizing unit economics and operational efficiency while on the other hand, market pressures, funding challenges, and competition will lead to the exit of underperforming players, paving the way for a more mature ecosystem. African fintechs will pivot toward profitability, with many focusing on monetizing existing customer bases rather than purely expanding user numbers. On the other hand, 2025 will see additional fintech closures in Africa, as struggling startups fail to secure funding or adapt to changing market dynamics, creating market consolidation & room for stronger players to thrive.

Return of Large Ticket Fundraising - After a period of funding slowdowns, investor confidence will return, driven by improved macroeconomic conditions and proven business models. Large ticket fundraising will make a strong comeback in 2025, with African fintechs attracting significant investment from global strategic investors in the Fintech space, VCs and debit providers as well as other hybrid capital market instrument issuers.

From Africa to the World - African Startups Will Go Global - African fintechs, having proven their models locally, will expand to international markets, particularly in regions with similar financial inclusion challenges especially in the southern hemisphere of LATAM-Africa-southeast Asia corridor. 2025 will mark a pivotal year for African fintechs going global, with startups exporting their innovative solutions to underserved markets worldwide. No wonder that we have selected the theme of “From Africa to the World” for 2025 for the Africa fintech Summit!

Embedded Finance Growth via Mobile Money - Africa has birthed Mobile Money innovation and as a result value transfers via electronic payments and Mobile money will continue to exponentially increase providing last mile financial inclusion. In 2025, embedded finance delivered via Mobile Money platforms will drive exponential growth in Africa’s fintech sector, bringing additional digital services to MoMo users. Fintechs will double down on embedded services in 2025, leveraging mobile technology and partnerships with telcos to unlock opportunities in underserved markets.

Rise of Cross-Border Fintech Solutions spurred by AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol - With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gaining traction and the AfCFTA digital Trade Protocol ratified in February 2024, Businesses in e-commerce & logistics, cross-border payment systems, Datacenter & related infrastructure businesses and trade-tech solutions will flourish. Cross-border payments spurred by the Pan-African Payments Settlement System (PAPSS) and regional collaborations will dominate Africa’s fintech space in 2025, fueled by AfCFTA’s efforts to ease trade across the continent.

Regulation Driving Innovation - Governments are rolling out stricter regulations for fintech, but this could spur innovation in compliance tech and risk management tools including Digital identity, reg-tech, fraud detection & prevention, compliance to both global and local best practices including the localization, deployment and usage of AI & data-driven technologies.

Africa’s Leap in Data Centers & AI has a new path via Bitcoin Mining - Bitcoin has historically proven its use case in P2P and decentralized financial inclusion spaces in Africa. However, recent trends have shown that Africa is moving just from a consumer/user of Defi instruments to active ecosystem participant via bitcoin mining, being responsible to some 3% of global hashrates as of Dec 2024 and increasing as highlighted in our report ‘The History & Future of Bitcon in Africa’ last December.’ In addition to forex revenue generation on renewable energy and investment justification for distributed rural electrification, an increased bitcoin mining investment will lead to an increased investment in Data Centre & Artificial Intelligence investments, both of which require connectivity and affordable energy which Africa can play to its advantage.

AI (re)defining the Future of Work & The war on future-proof Talent to intensify – Artificial Intelligence will profoundly transform the future of work including in Africa thereby reshaping industries, redefining job roles and altering economic landscapes including fintech business models. On a positive side, AI will create new opportunities for gig workers, freelancers and the creative industry through AI-powered platforms along with real-time translations and hence breaking down language barriers enabling African skilled tech talent access global markets and clients both via ‘talent export’ both via immigration & remote roles. Fintechs in digital payroll services, cross-currency & crypto payroll functionalities, compliance and HR services will be in great demand as Africa’s digital-first youth become part of the global digital economy.

African Fintechs will Acquire Banking & MF Licenses - African Fintechs traditionally in the payments space are horizontally and vertically expanding organically & via acquisition. In 2025, we will see this trend to include Fintechs acquiring Microfinance & local banks and as a result turning themselves into digital banking service providers with a prized possession of banking license.

A Rising global IPO Tide will Lifts African ‘Fintech Boats’- With global funding freeze expected to come to an end with an increased M&A and IPO activities in 2025, this seismic trend will impact the African fintech space in a way at least some of the existing African fintech unicorns will be solidifying their preparation and position to going global via IPO in the next 1-3 years.

Finally, potentially more African Fintech Unicorns – Related to the above ‘rising tide’ analogy, we expect a new wave of African Fintech Unicorns joining the ranks with some sort of priced funding as big-ticket funding and Capital Markets instruments coming to the play. My expectation is that atleast some of these prime African fintechs with global footprints, cash flow and profitability focus and unique business cases in their offering in Africa and beyond would join the Unicorn status in 2025:-
• Onafriq - AFTS 2024 Excellence in Cross-border Transfer Awardee & African fintech largest digital gateway with 500M+ connected mobile wallets
• Moove - AFTS 2024 Fintech Investment of the Year Awardee that expanded to Asia, Mexico & USA
• M-KOPA - African fintech platform that provides affordable financial and digital products with smart devices
• Kuda - AFTS 2023 Excellence in Digital Banking Awardee
• Yellow Card - Past AFTS AE Pitch Competition Cohort & Africa’s Blockchain based Borderless Payment Success Story
• Yoco – South African Payments Startup.

2025 is going to be a challenging year, testing the adaptability, ingenuity, and resilience of African fintechs, their founders, teams, investors, and the broader ecosystem. However, African innovators are no strangers to overcoming obstacles and will emerge stronger—leaner, smarter, and more resilient. To support this journey, Africa Fintech Summit will provide regular insights through our Africa’s Weekly Fintech Review newsletter, AWFR LinkedIn Newsletter, social media platforms X(Twitter) , LinkedIn and our flagship events in Washington, DC (April 24 2025) and Accra, Ghana (November 2025).

*Zekarias Amsalu is Co-Founder & MD - Africa Fintech Summit and Founder & CEO - Ibex Frontier