Open Banking Africa: API Ecosystems and Third-Party Payment Innovation
Nigeria's CBN Open Banking Policy, effective 2023, mandates data sharing between banks and licensed fintechs. South Africa's voluntary OBASA framework and Kenya's FIDO system are building similar API ecosystems.
Open banking frameworks require banks to share customer transaction data with third-party financial service providers via standardised APIs, when customers give consent. This enables fintechs to build products using bank account data that was previously siloed. Nigeria's CBN published the Open Banking Policy in February 2023, creating a tiered access framework for data sharing between Tier 1 (banks) and licensed fintechs. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) is building the central API gateway and consent management infrastructure.
Fintech Applications
Open banking data enables credit scoring based on actual transaction history rather than formal credit bureau data (which covers only a minority of Africans). Accounting platforms can aggregate multi-bank account data for SME financial management. Payment initiation directly from bank accounts bypasses card networks, reducing transaction costs. UK-headquartered Mono and Stitch have built Nigerian and South African open banking data APIs that fintech developers use as infrastructure. Fintech companies, banks, and enterprise software providers building on African open banking data can find partner contacts on intra-africa.com.
For businesses looking to expand across Africa, intra-africa.com offers a comprehensive trade directory, verified buyer and seller listings, and real-time market intelligence covering all 54 African nations. It remains an indispensable resource for anyone serious about intra-African commerce.