MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita says Africa is primed to lead the next phase of global digital finance, pointing to the continent’s rapid mobile money growth as a springboard for deeper financial transformation.
Mupita made the declaration on Monday during a fireside chat with broadcaster Bernard Avle at the 3i Africa Summit, held at the Destiny Arena in Accra. The summit, now in its third year, convenes policymakers, regulators, fintech leaders, and investors under the theme “The Next Frontier: Shaping Africa’s Integrated FinTech Future.”
“Africa is poised to lead in the global digital finance evolution,” he said, adding that the scale of adoption and pace of innovation across the continent position it strongly for the future.
The MTN chief outlined a trajectory that moves well beyond basic mobile payments. He pointed to digital credit, cross-border remittances, embedded finance, and innovations powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology as the defining pillars of the next wave. He also underscored the critical role telecoms companies have played in reaching populations that traditional banks could not serve efficiently or affordably.
Mupita urged regulators to strike a careful balance, backing innovation while protecting consumers through clear and forward-looking policy frameworks.
The 2026 edition of the 3i Africa Summit was organised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), with support from MobileMoney Fintech LTD, a subsidiary of MTN Ghana that has served more than 17 million registered subscribers since its launch in 2009. Discussions at the summit spanned virtual assets, tokenisation, open banking, and digital public infrastructure.
