Digital Finance in Africa

About this GDI Review

 
 

SUMMARY

Rapid growth and interest in digital financial services is creating unparalleled opportunities to connect people and organizations, especially within emerging economies. These innovations offer critically needed services that can be used at a distance, with tools as simple as a cell phone or as complex as cryptocurrency investments.

In this review, members of the GDI team took a comprehensive approach to analyzing the current state of digital finance across Africa’s 54 countries. Understanding the past, present, and future of this environment empowers us to evaluate whether digital finance is likely to function as a catalyst for a better economic future across the African continent, post-COVID-19 pandemic — and if so, the mechanisms for how this might take place.

THE RESEARCH TEAM

Authors: Ari de Fauconberg (LinkedIn, Twitter), Arthur Bessis (LinkedIn), Bernhard Gapp (LinkedIn), Henry Goble (LinkedIn), Nnaemeka Obodoekwe (LinkedIn)

IMPACT EVENTS

[Forthcoming] Oral Presentation at the 9th Annual International Conference for Sustainable Development (ICSD), hosted by Columbia University on 20-21 September, 2021.

Good Data Talks: Virtual panel discussion on 5 March, 2021 with:

  • Mr. Austin Okere, Founder at CWG and Entrepreneur in Residence, Columbia Business School (LinkedIn, Twitter)

  • Dr. Patrick Saidu Conteh, PhD, FCCA, FCIB, MBA, SSA Regional Lead at Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (LinkedIn, CCAF)