East African countries are setting the pace in smoothing cross-border trade across the continent, with Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania leading the way through shared regional standards, mobile money interoperability, electronic customs systems and strong regional cooperation. This is according to Mthokozisi Dlamini, managing executive of Transactional Banking Sales at African financial services provider Absa Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).
Dlamini explains that Africa’s growing relevance to the evolution of global finance is being driven significantly by East Africa’s upward trajectory. “As a region, East Africa is focused on customer outcomes, not infrastructure projects,” he notes, pointing out that Rwanda has been the “outstanding example” as it has redesigned the entire trade journey around ‘the trader’, thereby delivering the best outcomes for clients.
He adds that the region’s experience, particularly in cross-border payments, provides a glimpse into what tomorrow’s increasingly digital, data-driven global financial system could look like. As artificial intelligence, automation and real-time data reshape how businesses make decisions, manage supply chains and deploy capital, the infrastructure that transfers money across borders must evolve too.
“The question is no longer simply how quickly a payment can move, but rather whether financial infrastructure can provide the intelligence, interoperability, liquidity and trust required to support an increasingly real-time global economy,” avers Dlamini.
Africa’s financial landscape spans more than 50 economies, multiple currencies, regulatory regimes, payment systems and levels of digital maturity. Moreover, the world is “naturally” becoming more fragmented as geopolitics impacts all countries. As a result, the financial sector is seeing new trade alliances emerge, resulting in additional complexities relating to differing payments systems and regulations. Importantly, Dlamini notes that such complexity is “inherent in doing business in Africa”, which allows African innovators to develop solutions in areas in which they have familiarity and a deep understanding.
African Advantage
Absa CIB Payments as a Service managing executive Richard Southey attributes Africa’s recent success to the fact that Africans are “solving for financial inclusion at scale, solving for areas with deficits in infrastructure and solving for practical access”.
“As a result, the solutions created expand the range of problems being solved for, which influences both how the rules should behave to ensure a broad spectrum of needs are being considered, while testing numerous infrastructures to ensure they cater for the community’s needs,” Southey notes. The assumptions are generally a lot broader when African circumstances are considered, he adds.
While modern technological advancements promise to revolutionise global finance, Southey cautions that smarter systems alone will not solve the structural challenges plaguing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The primary hurdle facing international trade remains the high cost and complexity of digital identity. Expensive know-your-customer compliance, rampant financial crime and cumbersome onboarding processes continue to lock out vulnerable sectors, particularly rural customers.
Southey argues that solving the identity issue is paramount, closely followed by critical needs for regulatory enablement, open finance, digital-trade infrastructure and network interoperability. Industry analysts also stress that the future of finance depends on stability and accessibility, rather than raw speed.
“For SMEs currently hampered by trade barriers, building a dependable framework requires a shift toward predictable and transparent operations, which remain far more crucial than rapid transaction times,” says Southey.
A stable global trade ecosystem for smaller businesses depends on the implementation of portable digital identity systems that allow entities to verify credentials once and use them universally. As AI makes commerce more automated, data-driven and nearer to real-time, the financial infrastructure underneath it will need to become more intelligent without becoming less trusted.
Africa’s experience gives it a distinctive perspective on how that future could work, says Southey. “The lesson is that the future of cross-border finance is not simply faster. It is more connected, more intelligent and more interoperable, with trust at its core.”
Southey says the next generation of African services will combine global technology, local expertise, trusted financial institutions, strong regulatory engagement and merchant-led design.
