Africa’s ​digital ​finance ​push ​enters ​new ​phase as ​trust ​overtakes ​access​

After two decades focused on expanding financial inclusion, the next challenge for African financial systems is no longer bringing more people into formal finance but ensuring digital services remain trusted, reliable and resilient, according to a new report by Bridgforte.

The report, Trust Architecture in Platform-Led Finance, will be launched on Tuesday, 28 July, with a keynote address by South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Nomfundo Tshazibana. It argues that the rapid expansion of digital financial services has shifted the policy debate from access to confidence in increasingly interconnected financial ecosystems.

The publication examines how artificial intelligence, real-time payments, digital public infrastructure and greater collaboration across financial institutions are reshaping governance, accountability and trust. Drawing on perspectives from senior executives across banking, fintech, payments, regulation and development finance, it proposes a framework for policymakers and industry leaders to assess how confidence can be built and sustained as financial systems become increasingly digital.

The report comes as digital finance continues to expand rapidly across Africa. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2021, 76% of adults globally now have an account with a bank or mobile money provider, up from 51% in 2011, while digital payments have become the most common gateway into the formal financial system. In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money remains a key driver of financial inclusion, with the region accounting for the majority of global mobile money accounts. The GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025 found that registered mobile money accounts worldwide surpassed 2 billion, with Sub-Saharan Africa remaining the largest and fastest-growing market.

Nigeria has also recorded significant progress in expanding formal financial services. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy seeks to achieve near-universal financial inclusion, while EFInA’s most recent Access to Financial Services Survey shows that formal financial access has expanded substantially over the past decade as mobile banking, agency banking and fintech platforms broadened access across underserved communities.

Rather than presenting a single policy prescription, Bridgforte’s report seeks to broaden the conversation around how trust can become a core pillar of financial system design as digital platforms become increasingly central to economic activity.

From financial access to institutional confidence

The research traces its origins to the inaugural Bridgforte Dialogues, convened on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2025 in partnership with the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and ConsumerCentriX.

Discussions on the future of financial inclusion consistently returned to one conclusion: while access had expanded considerably, sustaining trust in digital financial systems had emerged as the defining challenge for the next phase of inclusion.

That conclusion informed a second phase of research through a closed-door Executive Table held in Lagos in February 2026 in partnership with the UNDP Nigeria Innovation Centre. The forum brought together 30 senior leaders from banking, fintech, payments infrastructure, insurance, capital markets and development finance, with those discussions informing subsequent independent research and international comparative analysis.

The resulting report introduces what Bridgforte describes as a policy framework for examining trust within increasingly digital financial systems.

The initiative was convened by Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR, founder of Bridgforte and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Financial inclusion has transformed millions of lives by expanding access. The unfinished work is confidence. Digital financial systems must now prove themselves worthy of public trust. That is the defining challenge for policymakers, regulators and industry leaders alike. It is the shift in thinking African finance now requires, and the work Bridgforte was built to do,” Ahmad said.

Launch brings together regulators and industry leaders

Tshazibana will deliver the keynote address at the virtual launch event.

Ahmad will introduce Bridgforte and outline the origins of the research before the report’s framework is presented. An overview of the findings will then be delivered by Ms Ladipo, followed by a panel discussion featuring Diane Karusisi, chief executive officer of Bank of Kigali; Uzoma Dozie, founder of Sparkle and former chief executive of Diamond Bank; Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder of PiggyVest; and Professor Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, executive director of the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation.

The discussion will be moderated by Olayinka David-West, dean of Lagos Business School, while Lehlé Baldé​, editor of BusinessDay Weekender and Ugodre Obi-Chukwu, chief executive officer of Nairametrics, will host the event.

The 100-minute virtual session will be recorded and is open to regulators, financial institutions, fintech executives, development partners and researchers across Africa, Europe and the Americas.