Africa rising – how digital payments are unlocking a new era of economic inclusion

Across much of Africa, the way money crosses borders reflects a continent in transition. Cash, mobile money and digital banking all coexist, but not with equal ease. While digital adoption is rising, many people still struggle to move funds reliably between countries. This is exactly the challenge the G20 has placed at the centre of its Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments. These parallel systems reveal a simple truth: Africa is modernising, but not evenly. 

The G20’s priority is clear: cross-border payments must become faster, more affordable, more transparent and more accessible. For Africa, where more than US $100 billion in remittances flows in each year, as noted during the Globba™ launch, the need for reform is urgent.

Within this shifting landscape, FNB, in partnership with Mastercard, launched Globba™™, positioning it as both a customer solution and a contribution to a broader policy agenda. Accessible through the FNB and RMB Private Banking apps, Globba™ links South Africans to more than 120 countries, including around 45 in Africa, with payout options into bank accounts, mobile wallets or cash pick-up points.

Bridging policy and everyday life

Consider everyday situations: a father in Johannesburg sends money instantly to his daughter studying in Nairobi; a friend in Durban transfers cash to a cousin in Harare for a family celebration; and someone in Cape Town sends money to parents in Malawi for groceries – no delays, no queues. These frictions, familiar across the continent, reflect what the G20 Roadmap identifies as systemic global challenges.

Lytania Johnson, CEO of FNB Personal Segment, echoes the sentiment of a much-needed call for inclusive financial systems, saying: “Globba™ reflects our commitment to making global financial services accessible to every customer. By combining innovation with trust, we’re helping people move money across borders quickly, securely and affordably, whether it’s supporting family, paying for education or growing a business.”

The G20’s 2025 consolidated progress report highlights the same issues worldwide: inconsistent transparency, costly transfers, slow settlement and limited access in underserved regions.

The African Continental Free Trade Area’s Digital Trade Protocol (AfCFTA) adds a continental dimension, setting shared rules for digital payments and data to support intra-African commerce. In this alignment of national, regional and global priorities, Africa finds both opportunity and urgency. 

It’s in this alignment that Globba™ enters. Developed inside FNB’s regulated environment and powered by Mastercard’s global network, it aims to make cross-border transfers behave more like domestic ones: predictable, secure, and easier to access.

As Gabriel Swanepoel, Mastercard’s Country Manager for Southern Africa, said the partnership combines “FNB’s local expertise with Mastercard’s global network to make cross-border payments faster, secure and transparent for everyone.”

The building blocks for a borderless economy

Globba™’s day-to-day use is simple: customers send money from their FNB profile to a bank account, mobile wallet or cash-out point abroad. Fees start at about R30, foreign exchange rates are shown transparently, and delivery is near real time.

What makes this meaningful is what sits underneath. FNB provides the domestic banking rails – compliance, security, customer relationships and infrastructure. Mastercard provides global connectivity across multiple payment channels, enabling funds to reach different types of recipients across markets.

By combining these capabilities, FNB and Mastercard align with the G20’s emphasis on interoperability – building systems that connect rather than compete.

Onur Kursun – Mastercard’s Executive Vice President for Commercial and New Payment Flows across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa – noted that “cross-border payments are the cornerstone of Africa’s digital economy, connecting families, fuelling SMEs and supporting regional trade.” The link between everyday financial flows and economic possibility is becoming one of the continent’s strongest growth drivers.

Making digital systems work for everyone 

For Mail & Guardian readers, the real question is whether digital tools can reach people fairly and reliably, those already well-connected. 

Several of Globba™’s design choices speak to this:

• Multiple payout options so recipients can choose what fits their circumstances (such as bank accounts, mobile wallets or cash collection). 
• Integration into existing FNB and RMB apps, avoiding the need for new platforms or wallets and relying on the familiar security settings and processes they know.
• Clear, predictable fees, addressing one of the biggest pain points in traditional remittance channels.

These design features support the G20 access target and align with South Africa’s Vision 2030+ goals for an inclusive, integrated and secure payments ecosystem.

Richard Porter, CEO of FNB Forex, explained that Globba™ was shaped by real customer needs, saying it was built around “everyday realities, from students studying abroad to workers supporting families back home, and the need to make those payments easier and more affordable.”

Building trust into the system

The G20’s 2025 progress report stresses that technical upgrades alone will not achieve its 2027 targets. Better coordination between public and private sectors is needed, along with strong consumer safeguards and data protection standards.

FNB and Mastercard’s model offers one example. Compliance and risk controls are embedded in the payment flow, not added on later. Customer protection remains within the banking environment, while the user experience stays simple.

Challenges remain; informal channels persist and not all payment corridors are equally mature. But the direction is clear: cross-border payments are moving toward systems built for inclusion, not exclusion.

With South Africa hosting key G20 engagements this year, the timing is significant. The question now is whether policymakers and industry leaders can use this moment to build systems that support ordinary people and enterprises.

If they can, then when a family in Kigali receives payment from Cape Town or a wife in Malawi receives support from her husband in Johannesburg, it will not feel exceptional. It will simply feel normal. And that normality is the foundation of economic inclusion.