Digital Payment Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa
Departmental Papers, June 27, 2025
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Luca A Ricci, Calixte Ahokpossi, Saad N Quayyum, Rima A Turk, Anna Belianska, Mehmet Cangul, Habtamu Fuje, Sunwoo Lee, Grace B Li, Xiangming Li, Yibin Mu, Nkunde Mwase, Jack J Ree, Haiyan Shi, Vitaliy Kramarenko
- Published: June 27, 2025
- Series: Departmental Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400232220.087
Summary
- Takes stock of developments and policy issues related to digital payments innovations across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including central bank digital currency (CBDC), fast payments systems (FPS), mobile money, and crypto assets.
- Analysis draws on insights from a recent IMF survey of SSA central banks (Ricci and others, 2024).
- Grounded in the unique characteristics of SSA compared with other regions.
- Offers tailored recommendations related to policy, regulation, and design to strengthen the digital payment landscape in the region.
Key findings
- Mobile money and fast payments systems (FPS) are important areas for development in SSA.
- Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can complement mobile money and FPS and could be pursued when there are well-identified market failures or other strategic reasons that require public intervention in the digital payment space.
- Crypto assets, especially adequately backed stablecoins, can support financial innovations but are associated with risks that require containment through comprehensive regulations.
- Crypto assets should not be adopted as legal tenders.
- Strengthening digital infrastructure and leveling the playing field for private sector involvement are important to create an enabling, competitive, interoperable, and secure operating environment.
- Stronger collaboration across borders can foster efficiency gains and international interoperability of payment systems.
Policy recommendations and design principles
- Strengthen digital infrastructure to support widespread adoption and reliable operation of digital payment services.
- Level the playing field for private sector participation by ensuring an enabling, competitive, interoperable, and secure operating environment.
- Encourage development of mobile money and FPS as foundational elements of the payments ecosystem.
- Consider CBDCs as complementary tools that can be pursued selectively where market failures or strategic public-interest reasons justify public intervention.
- Regulate crypto assets comprehensively to contain risks; allow innovation (including adequately backed stablecoins) subject to regulation, but prohibit adoption of crypto assets as legal tender.
- Promote cross-border collaboration to achieve efficiency gains and enhance international interoperability of payment systems.
Research and evidentiary basis
- Draws on an IMF survey of SSA central banks (Ricci and others, 2024).
- Tailors analysis to the unique characteristics of SSA relative to other regions.
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- Departmental Paper