Backbase

African banks have spent years experimenting with AI at the edges: chatbots, pilots, isolated use cases. That phase is ending. Rising costs and talent shortages are pushing banks to embed AI into everyday operations, from servicing and compliance to code generation. The winners won't be banks with the best AI tools. They'll be the ones that rewire how their teams work alongside them.

For years, digital banks in Africa were more promise than reality. Not anymore. TymeBank is profitable. Kuda has passed 5 million users. Revolut just got licensed in Egypt. The real threat isn't mass exodus. It's selective migration, where the most valuable customers quietly shift their daily banking to challengers while keeping salary deposits with incumbents.

Open banking used to be a compliance exercise. Now it's becoming a growth strategy. Banks across Africa are starting to embed payments, credit, and identity services directly into the platforms customers already use. Those treating APIs as products, with real pricing and commercial ownership, are unlocking new revenue without expanding their balance sheets.

The best banking experiences are the ones customers barely notice. With over 1.1 billion mobile money accounts across Sub-Saharan Africa, the foundations for invisible banking already exist. Absa's ChatWallet lets users send payments and buy airtime inside WhatsApp, no account required. That's the direction: banking that meets people where they are, not the other way around.

Africa's middle class is expected to surpass 500 million people by 2030. That's a massive wealth management opportunity, but manual advisory models can't scale to serve it. Automation is making it possible to offer portfolio monitoring, rebalancing, and structured advice to clients who would never have qualified for a private banker. The advisor doesn't disappear. The role just gets more strategic.

SMEs are the backbone of African economies, yet they remain dramatically underserved. The shift from collateral-based to data-based lending is changing that. By integrating with cloud accounting software and digital storefronts, banks can now lend based on real-time cash flow rather than last year's audited accounts. Equity Group in Kenya accounted for nearly 45% of all MSME loan disbursements in the first half of 2025. The "Missing Middle" is becoming the growth engine.