Mobile money services processed more than $2 trillion in transactions worldwide during 2025, according to the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026. An opinion article published Sept. 29 argues that Africa’s economic development also depends on how payment systems connect to businesses and government.
Eva Nyamori, Global Chief Strategy Officer at CapitalPay International, wrote the article. She says the issue goes beyond whether people can make digital payments. The question is whether payment systems connect with wider economic and administrative systems, so transactions can be tracked, reconciled and used in formal activity.
The infrastructure behind payments
Africa’s digital economy includes mobile money, digital banking, e-commerce platforms, fintech applications and online marketplaces. Nyamori describes payment infrastructure as a less visible layer that may matter as much as the services consumers use directly.
Digital payments create transaction records. Connected infrastructure, the article argues, can help businesses track and reconcile transactions, support government administration and visibility, and help consumers participate in the formal economy. Those outcomes depend on how payment systems fit into broader processes, not just on whether a payment application is available.
Disconnected systems can complicate government processes. Transactions may pass through several administrative steps before officials reconcile and report them, the article says. Each manual step can bring delays, errors or incomplete information. Digitising a payment is one step; connecting it to the wider process is another.
Different economies, different systems
African economies vary in how businesses and consumers operate. Many businesses work informally, consumers use cash as well as digital payment channels, and access to connectivity and financial services differs within and between countries.
Digital payments alone can't resolve those challenges, the article says, though they can help connect economies. There isn't one African digital economy: Kenya’s payments ecosystem has developed differently from Tanzania’s, while South Sudan faces different institutional and economic conditions.
Nyamori argues that infrastructure should reflect local realities and connect to wider financial systems. African technology companies working across multiple markets can draw on experience in different environments, the article says, but they must adapt implementation to local requirements. Some principles may transfer between markets; others may need redesign.
Growth depends on implementation
The GSMA report put global mobile money transaction growth at 23 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024. The article says that figure should turn attention not only to individual payment products, but also to systems that let payments function across broader economic processes.
Interoperability, appropriate regulation, security, trust and designs suited to African markets are all required, Nyamori says. Greater transaction visibility can support business management, while more efficient payment processes can reduce administrative friction.
Digital records can improve information for decision-making, and easier access to formal payment systems can widen participation in the formal economy. But those outcomes aren't automatic. They depend on infrastructure, adoption, regulation, trust, system design and implementation.
The central question is what happens when payments become part of the infrastructure linking consumers, businesses, governments and financial institutions. Nyamori’s article says Africa’s digital economy will be built not only through phone applications, but also through the systems operating behind them.