Africa-Press – Ghana. In 2023, remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa reached $54 billion, according to the World Bank. For context, the value of foreign direct investments to sub-Saharan Africa within the same year was 38.6 billion.
Put simply, remittance flows were nearly 1.5 times the size of foreign direct investments in the same year.
Looking at Africa as a whole, since around 2010, remittances have remained the highest source of external financial flows when compared to other inflow channels, including foreign direct investments and official development assistance.
From the early 2010s till 2022, remittance inflows to Africa have jumped from $60 billion to nearly $100 billion. The African Development Bank reports that between 2018 and 2022, remittance inflows to Africa averaged $90 billion per year.
What do remittance apps have to do with any of these trends?
Understandably, the rise in the African diaspora population plays a major role in these trends. But for many Africans in diaspora, the access provided by remittance apps is the major reason they can confidently and conveniently send money whenever they want.
And as digital remittance platforms became more and more popular in the 2010s, Africans in diaspora found new ways to send money back home, including to people in unbanked communities.
It therefore comes as no surprise that the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) acknowledges the input of remittance apps as a key driver of financial inclusion.
From Cash to Clicks: The Digital Shift
Long before remittance apps came into the picture, sending money to Africa often happened in two ways:
Wire transfers: Usually handled by commercial banks, typically located in cities. People in rural areas often had to travel to the city to withdraw their money. Alternatively, they might receive the money in the bank account of someone who lived in the same city as the given bank, who then withdrew the cash for them.
Returning family friends: This was similar to the Hawala system, though not formally structured. In this case, the sender gave some cash to a friend or community member heading back home, who, upon arrival, exchanged the cash for local currency and gave it to the recipient whenever they met.
These systems are very slow and heavily rely on moving cash around, which can be inconvenient and extremely risky.
As remittance apps have become prominent across Africa, these trends are gradually diminishing. While wire transfers still maintain a large market, the latter method of sending cash through returning friends is nearly non-existent.
Remittance apps, powered by internet and mobile phone penetration, have made it possible for those in rural and low-income areas to have access to mobile accounts for receiving money directly from their families or friends abroad in a few clicks.
Consequently, cash is becoming less of a constant in Africa-focused remittances as remittance apps provide more direct, convenient, and secure access.
In general, this trend is translating to unprecedented levels of financial inclusion.
Financial Inclusion in Action
According to the World Bank, financial inclusion basically translates to individuals and businesses being able to access useful, low-cost financial services and products that meet their needs, delivered responsibly and sustainably.
Over time, legacy financial institutions at various levels have continued to implement strategies to broaden financial inclusion across Africa.
However, where resource management and bottom line are key motivators, keeping bank branches open while turning a profit remains difficult in rural and low-income markets.
That’s why Africa had been largely unbanked or underbanked before the proliferation of digital financial services.
For context, the Europe and Central Asia region had 21.1 bank branches per 100,000 people in 2021, while the Sub-Saharan African region had 4.1 bank branches per 100,000 people.
The large gap left unattended by bank branches leaves a large market for remittance apps to capture, and they have been capturing it quite well.
Since 2011, the rate of adults owning a financial account in sub-Saharan Africa has more than doubled, as about half of the population now owns an account. In fact, about 13% of the population access financial services through mobile accounts alone, while another 14% own both bank and mobile accounts, according to the World Bank.
In countries like Kenya, digital money services are basically the bedrock of financial services, with about 30% of the population operating on mobile money accounts only, and another 40% operate mobile money accounts alongside traditional bank accounts.
This level of penetration forms a major driving force for financial inclusion across the continent.
Accordingly, the World Bank notes that sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed significant financial inclusion over the past ten years, with much of it being powered by digital adoption. In a policy paper published in 2024, the United Nations pointed out that digital remittances, as a result of this adoption, are instrumental for broader financial inclusion and social development in Africa.
At the granular level, remittance apps powering financial inclusion are critical for poverty alleviation in Africa. As households access more money through remittances, their access to more essential services increases, further improving their livelihood and overall human capital development in the region.
Tech Innovation Driving Change
As early as 2007, services like M-Pesa emerged in Kenya to facilitate domestic remittances for the unbanked and underbanked.
Today, this mobile service has extended to seven other African countries and has partnered with global remittance apps like BOSS Money to enhance accessibility for Africans in diaspora who want to send money to Kenya reliably and affordably.
For much of the early 2010s till date, fintechs have been making their way through the continent, disrupting traditional financial services and going beyond domestic remittances to bring Africa to the competitive stage of international remittances.
In the past few years, the majority of the venture capital investments in Africa have been directed towards fintechs, pegged at 35% in 2024, according to AfriLabs.
Although many of these fintechs started with a domestic focus, they are now scaling and innovating around digital services that make it possible for African consumers to process international payments or accept remittances.
Of the ten African fintech companies listed in the 2025 world’s 300 leading fintech firms by Statista and CNBC, seven have some form of international transfer processing feature, expanding remittance access and financial inclusion across Africa.
Conclusion: The Future of Inclusive Remittances
As African fintechs continue to attract more investor interest, they will continue to access more resources to scale up their services and establish stronger and healthier market presence even in hard-to-reach communities.
Talking about how to further unlock the full potential of remittances for Africa, experts at the African Development Bank posit that remittance mutual funds could greatly enhance financial inclusion.
Noting that it is an avenue for Africans in diaspora and at home to participate in high-yield financial markets that they ordinarily don’t have access to. Additionally, remittance mutual funds could enhance investment and saving culture among remittance-receiving households, which, contrary to immediate consumption, could mean long-term benefits for the households.
At the fintech front, more and more African fintechs are diversifying their products and services to capture a bigger chunk of the global remittance market, majorly with the goal of enhancing the ability of the African diaspora to send money directly to their families quickly, securely, and more affordably.
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