After several years of sustained expansion and accelerated digital transformation, the African financial industry has decisively entered a phase of streamlined growth.
The fifth edition of the African Financial Industry Barometer, produced by Deloitte and the Africa Financial Summit – AFIS, is based on a survey conducted between May and September 2025 among executives from more than 70 institutions (banks, insurance companies, fintechs, microfinance institutions, and capital market players) across the continent.
The findings are clear: the sector is returning to fundamentals and making profitability, cybersecurity, and operational efficiency the new pillars of its development model.
Confidence at an all-time high, boosted by disinflation
In 2025, executives rate their organization’s three-year economic outlook at 8/10, up 0.72 points from 2024, with 74% optimistic and only 4% pessimistic.
This renewed confidence is driven by easing inflation, improved operational visibility, and sustained commercial momentum.
Microfinance institutions show the highest level at of 9/10, ahead of insurance companies (8.35/10), while fintechs are normalising their expectations to 8.33/10 after peaking at 9.25/10 in 2024.
Pan-African groups report strong confidence (8.44/10), while international players (7.82/10) and capital market players (7.5/10) remain more cautious amid prolonged volatility.
A renewed focus on profitability and operational efficiency
In 2025, profitability emerged as a strategic priority for 46% of institutions surveyed, signaling a transition to maturity after several years of sustained expansion.
Three levers now dominate transformation plans: financial performance (84%), customer experience (85%), and digital transformation (81%), all up from 2024.
This strategic shift is reflected in improved fundamentals: net operating margin is up for 69% of players, return on equity (ROE) for 57%, and return on assets (ROA) for 58%, despite persistent pressure on asset quality and risk costs.
However, operational efficiency declined by 6 points to 54%, illustrating the growing complexity of cost control (talent, technology, compliance) in a more constrained environment.
Cybersecurity: from technical issue to systemic risk
58% of institutions report a high or very high level of exposure to strategic and regulatory risks. At the same time, 51% rank cybersecurity among their main concerns, compared to 39% in 2024.
In terms of regulatory priorities, cybersecurity tops the list of expectations for 97% of respondents, ahead of digital identification (92%) and combating illicit financial flows (87%, +18 points compared to 2024).
While 65–70% of institutions have fully operational prevention, detection, and response systems, the Barometer highlights a gap: investments have focused heavily on detection, but response and remediation capabilities remain limited. The shift from real-time identification to true resilience is the sector’s next challenge.
Digital and AI: from competitive advantage to business prerequisite
54% of institutions surveyed now consider themselves digitally mature, up 6 points from 2024. Fintechs remain at the forefront (67% in the “Leaders” category), but insurers have made the most significant progress: 59% are now in advanced positions (12% Leaders, 47% Potentials), up 19 points from 2024.
Artificial intelligence is primarily viewed as a risk management lever: 77% of institutions anticipate strong or transformative AI impact on fraud detection, 70% on credit risk analysis, and 70% on process optimisation.
Personalisation of offers (72%) and chatbots (68%) round out the leading use cases, combining operational efficiency with commercial expansion.
Continental integration: interoperability accelerates, PAPSS confirms its potential
PAPSS stands out as the most operational continental integration initiative: 35% of institutions rate it as highly operational (+15 points vs. 2024), citing measurable gains in cost reduction (25%) and faster settlement times (23%) for intra-African payments.
Payment system interoperability is identified as the top transformation priority by 2030 by 28% of respondents, driven by the ambition to connect 1.6 billion accounts (banking and mobile money combined).
Financial inclusion and ESG: from declarative logic to a pragmatic approach
Financial inclusion is a strategic pillar for 39% of institutions, led by microfinance institutions (100%) and fintechs (67%), while insurers are actively repositioning in underpenetrated segments through partnerships with telecom operators and microfinance institutions.
On ESG, the Barometer reveals a phase of pragmatic engagement: impact investing remains the most structured dimension (66% engagement), while ESG criteria integration has declined to 57% as institutions focus on areas with rapidly measurable impact.
Gender parity is advancing significantly: 47% of institutions have implemented team parity policies and 44% have dedicated reporting on gender indicators
“The African financial sector has entered a phase of maturity. Confidence is high, fundamentals are strengthening, and continental integration is becoming a reality. The remaining challenges cybersecurity, data quality and availability, interoperability, are those of an ecosystem being built, not defended. The ongoing consolidation is paving the way for stronger, more sustainable, and decidedly more inclusive growth,”Ambroise Depouilly, managing partner, Deloitte Francophone Africa.
“This Barometer highlights a very clear return to fundamentals in the African financial industry. Faced with a more constrained environment, executives are refocusing their priorities on financial performance and operational efficiency, which are once again becoming the sector’s true strategic compass,” Frédéric Maury, deputy CEO Event, Jeune Afrique Media Group.
The full 2025 Barometer is here.
