Fintech Companies from Africa Recognized in CNBC and Statista's 2025 Global Top 10 List
Africa's financial technology sector is making waves on a global scale, as evidenced by the World's Top Fintech Companies: 2025 list. This prestigious ranking, compiled by U.S. broadcaster CNBC in partnership with market research firm Statista, showcases the top 10 African fintech companies that are revolutionising the financial landscape across the continent.
Dominating the Payments Space
Seven African companies operate within the payments space, providing mobile payment platforms that have become widely adopted in countries with limited access to traditional banking. Notable among these are Egypt's Fawry and Paymob, and Nigeria's Interswitch and Opay. Fawry serves over 30 million users and processes more than three million payment transactions daily, while Paymob offers over 50 digital payment solutions for businesses across the Middle East and North Africa. Interswitch, a Nigerian unicorn, attained this status in 2019, and Opay, another Nigerian powerhouse, reached unicorn valuation in 2021.
Innovations in Wealth Management and Credit Access
Other African fintechs are innovating in wealth management and credit access for underserved populations. PiggyVest, a Nigerian company founded in 2016 by Odunayo Eweniyi, Somto Ifezue, and Joshua Chibueze, stands out as the continent's trusted digital savings platform. Nigeria's PiggyVest and Kenya's M-Kopa, which focuses on alternative financing through microloans and pay-as-you-go schemes, are recognised for their contributions in this area. M-Kopa has disbursed nearly $1 billion in credit to about three million underbanked customers.
The Top 10 African Fintech Companies
- Moniepoint (Nigeria/UK) – Category: Banking, credit, and cross-border payments
- M-KOPA (Kenya) – Category: Alternative financing (digital funding and microloans)
- Interswitch (Nigeria) – Category: Payments
- Fawry (Egypt) – Category: Payments
- Opay (Nigeria) – Category: Payments, loans, and merchant tools
- PalmPay (Nigeria) – Category: Payments
- Paymob (Egypt) – Category: Payments
- Yoco (South Africa) – Category: Payments
- PiggyVest (Nigeria) – Category: Wealth technology (digital savings and investments)
- Tala (Kenya) – Category: Alternative financing (tech-enabled microloans)
These companies span across seven major fintech sectors identified in the CNBC and Statista 2025 ranking: digital payments, wealth technology, alternative financing, banking, digital assets, enterprise fintech, insurtech, and neobanking.
The final list was created following an open call earlier in the year, where fintech companies were invited to submit key performance data to Statista. Africa's representation in the list is especially notable for its strong presence in high-impact financial service segments.
Reaching Unicorn Status
In addition to the companies mentioned above, Tala, founded in 2014, has disbursed over $6 billion in loans to more than 11 million users across various regions. South Africa's Yoco serves more than 150,000 small merchants and processes over $1 billion in annual card payments. Egypt's MyFawry, publicly listed on the Cairo Stock Exchange, achieved unicorn status in August 2020.
The ranking spans seven critical market segments: payment services, neobanking, alternative finance, wealth management technologies, digital assets, business services, and insurtech. As these African fintech companies continue to grow and innovate, they are poised to significantly impact the global financial landscape in the years to come.
- The financial technology sector in Africa is revolutionizing the continent's financial landscape, with fintech companies investing in various business areas such as payments, wealth management, and credit access.
- Notably, seven African companies focusing on mobile payment platforms have become widely adopted, with Fawry and Paymob from Egypt, and Interswitch and Opay from Nigeria, being standouts in this space.
- Meanwhile, fintechs like PiggyVest from Nigeria and M-Kopa from Kenya are innovating in wealth management and credit access for underserved populations, and have made significant contributions to these areas.
