“Banking in Africa is on the brink of its next transformative era. Gone are the days of discussing the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a concept; we are already immersed in a world augmented and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, and cloud computing. Now, the next frontier beckons, with generative AI, secure online watermarked fingerprints and cryptocurrencies taking centre stage,” says Mpumelelo Makhubu-Mukogo, Head: Digital at Standard Bank Global Markets Digital Solutions. The growth of Small to Medium Enterprises and entrepreneurship in several African countries and accompanying innovation in fintech – particularly blockchain technology – has the potential to drive the improvement of financial infrastructure across the board. As Standard Bank, we are no strangers to peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, which have been widely used to enable informal and small business ventures at the heart of many African economies by easing the logistics and cost of payments. It no wonder that Africa’s cryptocurrency adoption rate was 1 200% between June 2020 and July 2021, with more than $100bn worth of cryptocurrency payments made to Africans during that period – the bulk of which were remittances.
The Future of Digital Banking and Transacting in Africa
