Nigeria has emerged as the leader of Africa’s real-time and digital payment industry, ranking sixth in the list of the world’s most developed real-time payments markets following closely behind India, China, Thailand, Brazil, and South Korea.
Having recorded 3.7 billion real-time transactions in 2021, the country recorded an additional economic output of $3.2 Billion in the same year, representing 0.67 percent of the country’s GDP.
This, the report attributed to the increasing uptake of real-time payment solutions services.
This was contained in the third edition of Prime Time for Real-Time, published by ACI Worldwide, (NASDAQ: ACIW).
The report was compiled in partnership with a data and analytics company, GlobalData, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
“Real-time payments have substantially contributed towards the formalization of Nigeria’s shadow economy – the size of the shadow economy was estimated to be 47% of formal GDP in 2021, equivalent to approximately USD 228 billion – in the absence of real-time payments, Nigeria’s shadow economy would have been 1.4% larger,” the report said.
Santhosh Rao, Head of Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, ACI Worldwide said regarding the report that Nigeria’s unprecedented growth was fuelled by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, added with a growth-friendly regulation put in place by the country’s government.
“Nigeria is fast becoming a posterchild across Africa for the successful digital transformation of the country’s economy.
“Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerians increasingly expect higher speeds, greater simplicity, and modern thinking from financial service providers. While cash is still being used widely, the shift towards digital and real-time payment services is testament to the success of government regulators in fostering rapid growth in digital openness, particularly payments.”
“Africa is in an ideal position to capitalize on the lessons learned from other countries and continents and maximize the impact and benefits real-time payments provide,
“There is a renewed appetite and enthusiasm across the continent to increase financial inclusion and use real-time payments to build the continent’s future digital economies. Banks should look at the market as entering a new phase of high opportunity and assess whether the technology they currently use is fit for its purpose. Banks that want to succeed and successfully compete in the future need to embark on a long-term digital transformation strategy, that allows them to both connect to new schemes easily and innovate quickly using the real-time rails.”Rao said.
About The Report
1. The report tracked the growth and volume of real-time payment solutions across 53 countries.
2. The report which gave a detailed report of the benefits of the industry to businesses and consumers also highlighted the economic impact of the industry across 30 countries.
3. It observed that about 3.7 billion real-time transactions were made in the country in 2021, increasing its GDP by 0.67 percent.
4. The report predicts that real-time transactions will rise to 8.8 billion annually by 2026, a 5-year CAGR of 18.6 percent.
5. More than half of the transactions made in the country in 2021 were made in real-time, about 55 percent.
6. According to the report, Non-instant electronic payments or paper-based payments remain relevant despite these statistics.
7.64.7% of consumers in Nigeria own and use a mobile wallet
