The Fintech Landscape of South Africa

The Fintech Landscape of South Africa

The Fintech Times ’s Fintech: Middle East & Africa 2021 Report highlighted the importance of South Africa in the wider Middle East & Africa (MEA) landscape. The country was ranked as an emerging fintech hub (tier-2) in the middle category. The only other African countries in the Tier-2 category were Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Mauritius, Ghana and Tunisia – with Rwanda, Morocco and Uganda as “countries to watch” ranking high in the tier-3 early stage fintech hub category. Why does South Africa have an emerging fintech hub? First, South Africa – alongside Brazil, Russia, India, and China – are known as the BRICS . All five have large populations and emerging economies. Despite current economic challenges with some of them, the five nations do still represent large populations and emerging markets and opportunities. Despite any recent challenges, South Africa has a relatively established ecosystem that not only includes its financial services industry but also a large market. For instance, the largest city in South Africa, Johannesburg, is home to some of Africa’s leading banks and financial institutions such as Standard Bank Group , FirstRand , Absa Group , Nedbank Group and Investec , making it a potential fintech magnet for Africa.