At Tech Revolution Africa 2.0, fintech leaders discussed how to scale digital financial services to Africa’s next billion users, warning against growth at any cost and emphasising reliability, trust, and operational readiness.
The panel, moderated by Olumatoyin Abioye, fintech product lead, featured Musty Mustapha, co-founder and managing director of Kuda MFB, and Rosemary Aimankhu, chief commercial officer of MoMo PSB.
“Every decision you make in a business has its implications, and it has its cost,” Mustapha said.
“When you operate with the mindset of growing at all costs, regardless of whether you are really adding value to people’s lives, you are only solving for today and neglecting what could happen in the future.”
He stressed that African users are digitally aware but operate in low-trust environments, meaning fintechs must design products that build value, not rely on incentives for user acquisition.
Aimankhu reiterated this point, noting the need to understand the context of users. “When we have the context of who those billion users are, we can actually create the value that is speaking about. It’s very, very important,” she said.
She added that operational weaknesses are usually the first to fail as companies scale, highlighting the importance of preparing systems for growth from the outset.
Mustapha explained that the early months of a fintech’s life often leave operations underdeveloped because priorities focus on product and software development.
“Anything or any area of a business you are not giving 100% attention to is the area that will cause problems as you scale,” he said.
He recommended building flexibility into growth strategies and adjusting priorities over time, from customer acquisition to compliance, and eventually revenue.
On the question of trust, Aimankhu said reliability is indispensable. “You are available when I want, I can close my eyes and say, when I make this transfer, the person at the other end is going to get it. If the person does not get it, I begin to doubt,” she said.
Mustapha added that infrastructure beyond fintechs’ control, like roads, electricity, and identity systems, is a limiting factor, and businesses must plan with redundancy to mitigate these constraints.
The panel also explored which fintech models will dominate mass adoption. Aimankhu predicted embedded finance would prevail for low-end smartphone users, noting the importance of affordable, reliable services for everyday payments.
Mustapha highlighted the competitive advantage of combining fintech agility, telco distribution, and strong balance sheets from traditional banks.
The challenges startups avoid acknowledging has always been an issue to be addressed, and Mustapha stressed that assumptions about average users are common.
“A lot of us still continue to have this conception of what an average user is. What they want is just that you create political trust,” he said.
Aimankhu further added that leveraging local community networks is essential to gaining customer trust.
The discussion ended on balancing tough decisions between staff and customers. While Aimankhu said, “The customer is the reason why we’re here. You can reorganise internally to reposition that staff, but never prioritise your staff over your customer.”
Mustapha, on the other hand, noted that a business should avoid ever having to make such a choice, maintaining both staff and customer support to keep operations stable.
Reaching the next billion users in Africa is not simply about rapid growth, but creating value, building trust, and preparing operationally for unpredictable scale.
