06 October 2025

Carmen van Heerden, Commercial Director MEA, Trustonic

In Africa, a smartphone is far more than a sleek device — it’s a passport to education, healthcare, banking, and economic opportunity. From students in Ghana who boost their grades by using smartphones for homework, to farmers leveraging apps like Esoko to command better crop prices, the impact of connectivity is undeniable. Mobile health platforms such as HelloDoctor and Vula Mobile are bringing medical advice and diagnostics to rural areas once considered unreachable.

The ripple effects extend beyond individuals. In 2022 alone, mobile technologies contributed roughly 8.1% of subSaharan Africa’s GDP — around $170 billion. Each new smartphone user doesn’t just join the digital world; they stimulate demand for services, spur job creation, and boost financial inclusion. Kenya offers perhaps the most powerful example: the spread of mobile money services like M-PESA helped increase financial inclusion from just 27% in 2006 to an astonishing 84% today.

Looking forward, the continent is on track for transformation. Smartphone adoption is forecast to rise from 51% in 2022 to 87% by 2030. That growth promises to close the digital divide and open new frontiers for innovation. Yet the journey isn’t without obstacles. The greatest barrier is simple but formidable: affordability.

The power of paying later

For many Africans, smartphones remain out of reach because of cost. An entry-level device can cost the 30-120% of a person’s monthly income. This is where Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) financing is changing the game. By allowing users to pay a deposit and spread the cost in daily, weekly, or monthly instalments, BNPL puts smartphones within reach of millions. For some, it’s the first taste of digital access and empowerment: 40% of WATU SIMU customers reported an increase in income after getting a smartphone, while 30% of customers got new jobs (https:// www.dealfish.co.ke/2025/09/ watu-africa-issues-146-million. html). Meanwhile, Safaricom’s Lipa Mdogo Mdogo programme, which lets users pay as little as KSh 20 (around £0.12) per day, has already helped more than 2 million Kenyans upgrade to 4G devices.

Young Africans are especially driving this shift. Among 18–24-year-olds, smartphone ownership surged from 44% in 2023 to 56% in 2024 — a 27% increase, largely fuelled by financing options. Financing has also lifted the quality of devices within reach. Average selling prices for entry-level phones jumped from $70 in 2023 to $110 in 2024, reflecting the shift toward better devices enabled by credit. Crucially, BNPL doesn’t just empower consumers. It de-risks lending for operators and retailers. Platforms such as Trustonic’s device-locking system reduce bad debt by more than 70%, making it possible to extend credit to users with no formal banking history.

Success stories already shaping the market

Across the continent, BNPL programmes are proving their value at scale.

In South Africa, Pepkor’s FoneYam service has enabled over 1.5 million customers to access smartphones, now accounting for eight out of every ten prepaid handsets sold. MTN Nigeria, in partnership with Intelligra, went from financing 20,000 smartphones in a pilot phase to delivering 1,000 devices a day. Meanwhile, Safaricom’s Lipa Mdogo Mdogo has expanded beyond Kenya into Ethiopia, and M-KOPA has sold more than 6.4 million devices across Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria — 90% of customers reporting an improved quality of life, with 70% actively using their phones to generate income. 

These examples highlight a broader truth: BNPL is not a fringe solution; it is becoming the backbone of Africa’s digital expansion.

The business case for operators is equally compelling. Smartphone adoption translates directly into higher revenue per user, as customers consume more data and digital services. Migrating a subscriber from 2G to 4G is not just an upgrade in technology — it’s a revenue multiplier.

Financing also fuels loyalty and brand equity. Pepkor’s FoneYam, for instance, has earned glowing reviews from customers grateful for access they couldn’t get elsewhere. Some describe it as life-changing, proof that providing affordable pathways builds not only markets but also trust.

Operators are also bundling additional services — from insurance to content subscriptions — into financing plans, generating new revenue streams. Pepkor alone added insurance to 840,000 devices in 2024. Combined with secure enforcement tools like automated device-locking and payment reminders, BNPL improves operational efficiency while growing market share.

Overcoming the trust barrier

The biggest hurdle is trust. Traditional lenders rely on credit scores, payslips, and bank statements — metrics that simply don’t exist for large segments of Africa’s population. Many earn daily wages, lack bank accounts, and operate entirely outside formal credit systems.

To solve this, BNPL models are innovating. Device locking technologies, with their systems of messages, reminders and if needed, locking if payments stop, making the device itself secure collateral. Alternative credit scoring looks at behavioural patterns — like airtime top-ups, SIM card activity, or mobile money transactions — as proxies for creditworthiness. Requiring small deposits upfront and aligning instalments with informal income cycles further increase repayment rates. And by partnering with fintechs such as M-KOPA and Intelligra, operators gain access to purposebuilt tools for onboarding, repayment tracking, and risk reduction.

The best answer, for now

BNPL is not the only solution to Africa’s smartphone affordability crisis. Smartphones cannot get much more affordable since they’re already being produced by the billion and economies of scale have already been reached; however, refurbished devices, subsidies, and public access programmes all play their part.

Yet BNPL stands out as the most scalable, sustainable, and marketdriven approach available today. It balances access with accountability, enabling users to join the digital economy while giving operators and retailers confidence in repayment. The opportunity is clear. With continued innovation, supportive regulation, and deeper partnerships across the ecosystem, BNPL could well be the bridge that connects the next billion Africans to the digital world.