Retail financial services in Africa

As the home to seven of the ten fastest growing countries in the world, Africa is quickly becoming an attractive market for retail banking leaders across the globe. Indeed, the African financial services industry is expected to almost double its share of total GDP by 2020 and banks across the region are already deploying economic models that have yielded high revenue streams and healthy profits.

However, despite the continent’s clear potential, a number of challenges remain. Consumer purchasing power and financial access is yet to proliferate in many countries, and branch numbers do not reflect the size of the population. What’s more, increasing regulations – which are different across borders – as well as language differences, are hampering banks’ abilities to address the needs of the region as a whole. Competition from non-traditional players, as well as a lack of adequate infrastructure, are compounding these challenges further.

Banks wanting to leverage the significant opportunities that Africa holds need to understand these challenges and be prepared to adapt and simplify their operating models and governance structures. To ensure end-to-end adherence to multiple regulatory frameworks they should consider partnering with the right local leaders.

Embracing digitisation is also key. Banks should focus their attention on low-cost economic models to serve the mass market and collaborate with players from outside of the industry to extend their reach further. All this should be done while ensuring that profitability is not compromised. By understanding segment profitability and adapting service levels accordingly, banks can develop tailored services and products which are aligned with different segment needs.

This report brings together a wide range of insight and opinion from experts across the African retail financial services industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing banks operating in the continent. You’ll also find a number of case studies which highlight some of the fascinating innovations that organisations across the region are launching to stay ahead of the curve.