At the 7th Africa Fintech Forum 2026 in Nairobi, hosted by BII Global, I gave a keynote on "Empowering Innovation, Driving Inclusion: The Future of Fintech in Africa," highlighting ways to connect traditional banking with new fintech solutions across the continent.

Across the continent, we are seeing a major shift in how people use money. Mobile phones, digital wallets, digital micro credit (i.e. Online loans), and instant payments have become part of our daily lives. Africa leads the global digital financial landscape, with Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa combining for over 1.2bn registered mobile money accounts, which account for more than half of the world's 2.3bn accounts. These platforms form a cornerstone of financial inclusion, driving over $1.4trn in transaction volumes across the region annually.

This is not a story of old/traditional banks versus new fintechs. It is a story of how banks, fintechs, and the right regulations can work together to build a financial system that serves more people, more fairly, and more efficiently to liberate the financial future of many using homegrown technology.

In my view, in order to hit the north star of what is most critical for the continent in terms of liberating this financial future for many, we need to:

1. First, build stronger collaboration between banks, fintechs, and regulators.

For a very long time, people spoke as though fintechs were here to replace banks, and regulators were only there to say no to anything that shakes the foundations of the traditional banking systems. That view has proven to be an outdated posturing.

Fundamentally, banks bring trust, large customer bases, and strong risk management. Fintechs (being agile in nature) bring fresh ideas, fast innovation, and simple digital experiences to the table. Regulators bring rules, stability, and protection for customers and the wider economy.

When these three groups work together, everyone benefits.

This means regular, honest conversations between them; it means banks and fintechs co creating products instead of acting only as buyer and supplier; and it means regulators giving space to test new ideas safely, through sandboxes and bespoke innovation hubs.

Collaboration is not a nice to have thing anymore; it is essential if we want innovation that is both fast, safe and future proof.

2. Secondly, we must actively seek to accelerate the building of cross border payments and digital financial infrastructure ecosystems.

Africa is trading more with itself, and people are working and sending money across borders every day. Yet, moving money between African countries is often slow, complex, and expensive.

Sometimes it is easier to send money via another continent than directly to a neighbouring country, a hope that the Pan African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS) is expected to facilitate in eliminating. That should not be the case.

We need payment systems in different countries to connect and speak the same language so that money can move quickly and cheaply. We also need better ways to settle payments in local currencies and more transparent foreign exchange costs.

Beyond payments, we must also start to see the need for shared digital tools like digital IDs, common KYC systems, and shared credit information. The idea is so that a customer or business can be easily recognised and served in more than one country to stimulate the continental commerce.

Banks, with their regional networks, can help build these systems; fintechs can design easy to use services on top of them; and regulators can align rules across borders so that good solutions can grow from one country to many.

3. Thirdly, we need to bring digital assets and blockchain into mainstream banking in a careful and sensible way.

Around the world, these technologies are changing how we record, move, and store value. In Africa, they can help make payments faster, reduce paperwork, and improve transparency in areas like trade finance and supply chains.

But they also come with risks: scams, price swings, and misuse for illegal activities.

Ignoring them is not an option; they are already here.

The challenge is to use them wisely and within regulatory guardrails.

That means applying the simple idea: if a digital service does the same job as a traditional financial service, it should follow similar rules for transparency, KYC, anti money laundering, and customer protection.

It means using technologies like tokenisation where they solve real problems such as making it easier to trade and settle real assets rather than just chasing trends and media headlines.

And it means banks, fintechs, and regulators working together on common standards and platforms, instead of creating many small, disconnected systems.

The goal is not to replace banks with blockchain, but to use these tools to make banking better, especially for cross border trade and payments.

Under this theme I am happy to report that most African countries are setting up virtual assets legal regimes; Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria etc.

4. Finally, to succeed over the long term, we must build fintech ecosystems that are both scalable and trusted.

Growth without trust can collapse; trust without growth will not change lives at scale.

Trust comes from strong risk management, good cybersecurity, protection of customer data, and fair treatment of customers. Fintechs, like banks, must take these seriously.

Products should be clear, simple, and transparently priced, with customers’ data used responsibly and with consent.

We also need people with the right skills: technologists who understand regulation and risk, and bankers and regulators who understand digital tools like APIs, cloud, and AI.

Our ecosystems should be connected, so that banks, fintechs, telcos, and other players can plug into each other easily through open standards and APIs.

And we need patient, long term investment that supports responsible growth, not just quick wins.

If we get these pieces right, Africa can build fintech ecosystems that customers trust, regulators support, and investors believe in ecosystems that help more people save, borrow, pay, and grow their businesses.

In Closing

I want all of us to leave with an answer in our heads to the key question: it is not whether banks will win or fintechs will win (like some sort of a dog fight).

The key question is: Will we choose partnerships to give the continent a fighting chance at winning digitally through deliberate collaboration?

Africa’s financial future depends on banks that are open to change, fintechs that are serious about trust and compliance, and regulators that welcome innovation while protecting people and systems.

If we work together, we can build a financial system that is more inclusive, more connected, and more digital, one that helps a farmer get paid instantly, a small business get a fair loan, an entrepreneur build across borders, and a worker seamlessly send money home quickly and cheaply.

The opportunity is HUGE, and so is our responsibility.

By choosing cooperation over competition and shared platforms over isolated solutions, Africa will not only catch up with global financial innovation but help lead it.

About the Speaker

Carl Odame-Gyenti, PhD, is the author of Dare to Dream book, a Financial Institutions and Fintech Coverage Lead for Kenya & East Africa working with an International Bank.