Payments Scramble On For Africa

The prospect of a cashless Africa has triggered a scramble for control of its payments plumbing. The continent’s top telecoms operators have become big financial players thanks to their “mobile money” networks, which provide basic banking to tens of millions through handsets. If China is a guide, that could make them gatekeepers to a fintech revolution. For the industry’s four big players – France’s Orange, South Africa’s MTN, Britain’s Vodafone and Airtel Africa, controlled by India’s Bharti Airtel – the pandemic affirmed the social importance of the service to the region’s billion people. It’s also a reminder of the industry’s commercial fragility. So what does the future of payments look like after the pandemic? To talk about this Michael Avery is joined by Thomas PAYS - CEO - Co Founder – Ozow; Corrie Bakker who heads up the African Continent for PayU & Alastair Tempest, CEO of EFSA (ECommerce Forum of SA)