Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) has outgrown its status as a fringe payment option in Africa. But behind the glossy headlines and investor decks, a deeper story is unfolding, one that reveals BNPL as the continent’s fastest-expanding fintech frontier, projected to hit $5.34B GMV by 2025 and accelerating at rates that outpace even global peers.
In markets like Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa, BNPL is not merely spreading; it is surging, with year-on-year growth between 20–40%, forcing regulators, investors, and policymakers to confront a credit transformation few saw coming.
What’s driving this sudden rush? A perfect storm beneath the surface.
The Credit Void
The investigation begins with a blunt reality: Africa’s traditional credit infrastructure is broken, or, for millions, nonexistent.
- Credit card penetration: <5%
- Bank loans: slow, collateral-heavy, often exclusionary
- Inflation: eroding household liquidity
- E-commerce: rising but still <10% of retail
A vast population sits between the need for credit and the inability to access it. BNPL slips directly into that chasm, offering what banks and card issuers never could: instant, flexible, mobile-first credit rails.
For policymakers, this exposes a systemic credit inclusion problem.
For investors, it signals billions in unmet demand.
For VCs, it suggests the birth of Africa’s next fintech giant.
How Buy Now, Pay Later Became Africa’s De Facto Digital Credit System
What appears at checkout pages is actually a much larger story: BNPL has evolved into an on-demand credit infrastructure, designed around the continent’s mobile-money-first realities.
Here are the data points policymakers and investors should be tracking:
- 19.1% YoY growth in 2025, one of the fastest globally
- $10.63B projected market by 2030
- Growth rates 2–3× higher than mature BNPL markets
- BNPL increases online sales 30–50%
- Africa’s median age (19.7) skews heavily toward digital-first borrowing
- Mobile-money ecosystems (M-Pesa, MoMo, Airtel Money) supercharge adoption
Meanwhile, Africa’s Buy Now, Pay Later journey has already evolved beyond basic online checkout.
Buy Now, Pay Later is now financing:
- healthcare procedures
- school fees
- solar home systems
- smartphones
- travel
- B2B inventory for SMEs
This is no longer a payment feature, it is the continent’s parallel credit distribution network.
The Power Centers
A closer look at the ground tells a nuanced story, not a single African Buy Now, Pay Later market, but a patchwork of regional ecosystems.
In South Africa
PayJustNow, Payflex (Zip Co), MoreTyme, Mobicred
→ Estimated $815M GMV in 2025
South Africa’s higher e-commerce penetration and consumer credit culture make it Africa’s testing lab for BNPL scale.
In Egypt
valU, Sympl, Shahry, Contact, MNT-Halan
→ Dominant in appliances, electronics, and medical services
Egypt’s BNPL model merges retail credit, lifestyle spending, and digital lending in ways unmatched elsewhere.
In Nigeria
CredPal, Carbon Pay Later, FairMoney BNPL, EasyBuy
→ Driven by smartphone financing and urban consumer demand
Nigeria’s young demographic and mobile-first behavior create explosive adoption.
East Africa
Lipa Later, M-KOPA, Aspira
→ Strong integration with telcos and Mastercard
East Africa’s secret advantage: mobile-money ubiquity, enabling repayment structures most markets can’t match.
Notably missing: Klarna, Afterpay, PayPal.
Africa’s BNPL space remains dominated by local players, leaving room for category-defining winners.
Everyone Should Be Paying Attention Now
1. Policymakers
BNPL’s expansion is outpacing the policy response, raising red flags:
- over-indebtedness
- hidden interest structures
- weak credit reporting
- data privacy gaps
Governments have a narrow window to create frameworks that balance innovation with consumer protection, and the earliest movers will shape the continent’s digital credit architecture.
2. Investors
Unlike many fintech categories, BNPL already has strong demand and favorable economics:
- mobile-first distribution
- lower underwriting costs
- scalability improves margins
- multiple revenue levers (merchant fees, interest, partnerships)
Africa’s projected 14.8% BNPL CAGR (2025–2030) rivals, or surpasses, global benchmarks.
3. VCs
BNPL checks every venture box:
- massive TAM + low penetration
- embedded finance potential
- clear global precedent
- partnership-driven scalability
- uncluttered competitive landscape
With no pan-African leader, the field is wide open for a category-defining breakout.
The Next Phase
Through interviews, market data, and trend tracking, three future shifts appear inevitable:
1. Regulation Gets Teeth
South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria are already moving.
Expect new rules around:
- affordability assessments
- transparency
- reporting
- consumer protection
If well-designed, regulation will stabilize, not suppress, Buy Now, Pay Later growth.
2. Consolidation Begins
Stronger players will absorb weaker ones.
Expect:
- mergers
- acquisitions
- bank partnerships
- telco-lender hybrids
Buy Now, Pay Later will not stay fragmented.
3. Buy Now, Pay Later Moves Into High-Value, High-Impact Sectors
The next frontier spans:
- healthcare
- education
- rent
- mobility
- agriculture
- SMEs
BNPL becomes a backbone for critical life and business expenses, not just retail convenience.
Africa’s Buy Now, Pay Later Surge Is More Than a Trend, It’s a Structural Credit Shift
The evidence is clear: Buy Now, Pay Later is not a fintech fad or a temporary workaround.
It is reshaping:
- how Africans borrow
- how they shop
- how businesses sell
- how digital credit is delivered
- how consumers manage liquidity
Policymakers must guide it.
Investors should lean in.
VCs have a rare window to back market-defining winners.
Because one fact is becoming undeniable:
BNPL is the engine powering Africa’s next credit revolution — and the time to act is now.
