Africa’s borderless economy is outgrowing its financial infrastructure, says tech expert

Africa’s rapidly expanding borderless economy is exposing weaknesses in the continent’s financial infrastructure, with payment systems, banking networks, and regulatory frameworks struggling to keep pace with the growing movement of money, goods, services, and people across borders, according to Benjamin Dada, a fintech expert and founder of Condia.

Dada was the Nigeria country manager for Stitch, a South African payments company, and a business product manager at Moniepoint, building their cross-border product, MonieWorld.

Against this backdrop, the fintech media company will convene banks, fintech companies, regulators, airlines, travel operators, merchants, and investors at The Borderless Experience, a one-day conference scheduled for August 21, 2026, at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos, to examine what Africa needs to build a truly connected economy.

Read also: From The Mixer to the Perfectly Imperfect Challenge: How Cardtonic Is Supporting Nigerian Designers

The gathering, where Africhange is the headline sponsor, is expected to bring together about 500 senior decision-makers from banking, payments, commerce, policy, travel, compliance, and financial technology to discuss the opportunities and bottlenecks shaping Africa’s increasingly connected economy.

Unlike conventional technology conferences that broadly discuss innovation, the organisers say the event will focus on the practical realities of enabling cross-border commerce, from payment rails and banking relationships to logistics, regulation, foreign exchange, cybersecurity and digital identity.

Speaking during a virtual press conference ahead of the event, Dada, the convener, said the continent has entered a new phase where consumers are becoming borderless much faster than the infrastructure serving them.

“People are paying for international services, merchants are sourcing products across borders, creators are earning globally, and travellers are spending across multiple currencies. The infrastructure supporting these experiences has not always kept up,” he said.

He noted that while the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has created fresh momentum for regional trade, financial infrastructure, regulatory fragmentation and settlement systems continue to slow business expansion across the continent.

“Our goal is to bring together the people building the systems behind Africa’s connected economy, including banks, fintechs, regulators, travel companies, merchants, policymakers and infrastructure providers, to have practical conversations about what is required to move the industry forward,” Dada affirmed.

The event comes as cross-border payments emerge as one of the fastest-growing segments of Africa’s fintech industry. According to the fintech consultant, the continent’s cross-border payments market is estimated at about $329 billion and is expanding at an annual growth rate of roughly 12 percent, driven by digital commerce, mobile money adoption and regional trade initiatives.

He said many Nigerian fintech firms that initially focused on domestic payments are now expanding into the international money movement as businesses and consumers increasingly transact beyond national borders.

“Every major fintech now wants to become a cross-border fintech. That creates opportunities, but it also raises new questions about regulation, competition, liquidity management and financial infrastructure.”

Dada observed that much of the public conversation around cross-border payments still relies on outdated assumptions, adding that, “For years, everyone quoted that sending money into Africa costs around eight percent. Today, digital financial providers have reduced those costs significantly in several corridors, but many founders and investors still build their assumptions around old figures.”

He warned that relying on obsolete market data could lead entrepreneurs to develop unsustainable business models.

Beyond payments, the conference will also examine the broader ecosystem supporting Africa’s connected economy.

Participants will discuss how merchants are selling across markets, how airlines and hospitality companies are serving cross-border customers, and why logistics remains one of Africa’s biggest integration challenges.

The cross-border payment expert cited recent conversations with logistics operators showing that transporting goods between some African countries remains more expensive than shipping them from Europe. “It can cost more to move goods from Kenya to Nigeria than from the United Kingdom to Nigeria. Those are the kinds of structural issues we want to address,” he added.

The programme is organised around six thematic tracks covering the changing African consumer, payments and financial infrastructure, banking, commerce and travel, policy and regulation, and cross-industry collaboration.

Organisers say the discussions will explore three fundamental questions: what is changing in Africa’s increasingly connected economy; what infrastructure is needed to support that transformation; and what risks, including fraud, cybercrime, settlement failures, unstable exchange rates and regulatory fragmentation, could undermine future growth.

Sessions will feature operators building payment infrastructure, banking executives responsible for treasury and settlement, policymakers, compliance professionals, cybersecurity experts, merchants, airlines, hotel operators, investors and technology founders.

Among the issues expected to dominate discussions are stablecoins, artificial intelligence, correspondent banking, foreign exchange volatility, payment settlement, regulatory harmonisation and Africa’s evolving digital payment architecture.

According to Dada, payment itself is only one part of the equation. “What actually moves across borders are people, goods and services. Payments are simply the infrastructure that enables those movements,” he posited.

Industry analysts said the timing of the conference reflects a broader shift taking place across Africa’s digital economy. The rapid adoption of remote work, digital subscriptions, creator platforms, cross-border e-commerce and international freelancing has expanded demand for faster, cheaper and more reliable payment infrastructure.

Read also: AI productivity revolution faces privacy test as digital assistants become more personal

At the same time, AfCFTA is encouraging businesses to think beyond domestic markets, while technologies such as stablecoins and artificial intelligence are beginning to reshape how cross-border transactions are initiated, settled and monitored.

However, fragmented regulations, multiple currencies, limited correspondent banking relationships and foreign exchange volatility continue to constrain intra-African trade, which remains significantly below levels recorded in Europe and Asia despite the continent’s large population and expanding digital economy.

For Africa, where digital consumers are increasingly living and spending without borders, the success of that transformation may ultimately depend not only on faster payment systems but also on whether governments, financial institutions and technology companies can build the trusted infrastructure needed to support the continent’s next phase of economic integration.