A global transformation of the financial sector has been underway for several years at the level of both instruments and infrastructure. In some cases, incumbents in the financial sector are participating in this digital revolution, joined by new entrants with a greater vocation in innovation.
But the proportion of people online is still far behind the global average of 50,1 per cent12 – only 17,4 per cent of Africans have access to mobile broadband, while fixed broadband connections remain very low.13  Nonetheless, the prospects for Africa look promising, with 50 per cent of the continent expected to have access to the Internet by 2025 compared to the current 28,7 per cent14 while online shopping could account for as much as 10 per cent of retail sales, or $ billion, according to a 2013 McKinsey report.15 With the magnified impact of mobile phones in emerging economies and broader Internet penetration, McKinsey project that the Internet could contribute as much as 10 per cent of GDP to the African economy by 2025, from levels of around 1 per cent currently.