Key Findings
- 1Nigerian BNPL originations grew 3.4x faster than South Africa's in 2025, driven by informal-sector demand and card-network gaps. The comparative data tells a sharper story than the headlines.
Overview
Nigerian BNPL originations grew 3.4x faster than South Africa's in 2025 (CBN Payments System Vision 2025 monitoring report, Feb 2026; SARB National Payment System Department bulletin, Mar 2026). That single ratio reframes a market most global fintech coverage still describes as SA-led.
"Market size, side by side South Africa's BNPL market processed an estimated R14."
57% of Sub-Saharan African adults remain unbanked — representing the world's largest financial inclusion opportunity.
Mobile-first fintech platforms are uniquely positioned to capture this 350M+ person market.
Why this number matters right now
South Africa has long been treated as the continent's default consumer-credit benchmark — deeper credit bureau coverage, higher card penetration, and listed operators like Lesaka and PayJustNow. Nigeria's inversion of the growth curve, in a market with roughly one-third of SA's formal credit infrastructure, signals that the demand driver for BNPL is not credit-file depth but cash-flow smoothing for informal earners.
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