Published: November 11, 2026
In 2025, mobile money services processed more than $2 trillion worldwide, and about $1.4 trillion of it moved through wallets in Sub-Saharan Africa. The figure comes from the GSMA's State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026, released in March 2026. It makes the region the global centre of phone-based finance. About two-thirds of all mobile money value on Earth now flows through Sub-Saharan Africa.
The whole continent moved $1.43 trillion in 2025, up 27 percent on 2024, out of a global total of $2.09 trillion, up 23 percent. Africa also handled about 74 percent of all mobile money transactions by number, about 92 billion of 125 billion. It held about 1.2 billion of the world's 2.3 billion registered accounts, about 52 percent. East Africa led with $806 billion, followed by West Africa with $498 billion. Together the two sub-regions are 91 percent of Africa's mobile money value. Central Africa added $105 billion, North Africa $15 billion and Southern Africa $8 billion.
The comparison is the shock. Sub-Saharan Africa's $1.4 trillion is more than the rest of the world combined, about $0.69 trillion, or roughly twice as much. East Africa alone, at $806 billion, moved more than every country outside Sub-Saharan Africa put together. The growth is just as striking: it took the industry 20 years for annual mobile money value to pass $1 trillion, then four years, from 2021 to 2025, to double to $2 trillion.
Why it matters
For hundreds of millions of Africans, the phone is the bank. The World Bank's Global Findex 2025 found account ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa reached 58 percent of adults in 2024, up from 49 percent in 2021. The region has the world's highest use of mobile money accounts. Mobile money now carries far more than transfers between family members. Merchant payments reached $155 billion in 2025, bill payments $99 billion, cross-border remittances $45 billion and bulk disbursements such as salaries and social transfers $139 billion. The system is becoming the rails of everyday commerce, and the rules written for it, on interoperability, fees and fraud protection, will shape who benefits. The cost side still bites: sending money home remains expensive, and sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa costs 8.46 percent, the highest price in the world.
The number in context
Registration is not use, and the gap is the industry's weak spot. Only about 29 percent of Africa's 1.2 billion registered mobile money accounts, 347 million, are used in a given month. Globally the picture is similar. Only about 26 percent of the world's 2.3 billion accounts are active monthly, and more than 1.7 billion registered accounts sat idle in 2025. The GSMA calls closing this usage gap the defining challenge of the industry's next chapter. The $1.4 trillion is real money moving, but it flows through a minority of the accounts on the books. The triumph is genuine. So is the unfinished work.
Data Sources
- GSMA, State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026, 14th edition, March 2026 (mobile money services processed over $2 trillion in 2025; Sub-Saharan Africa about $1.4 trillion; 2026 edition still current as of November 11, 2026).
- Ecofin Agency, Africa Accounts for Two-Thirds of Global Mobile Money Flows in 2025, March 26, 2026 (Africa $1.43 trillion, up 27 percent; about 66 percent of a $2.09 trillion global total; about 74 percent of volume, about 92 billion of 125 billion transactions; about 1.2 billion of 2.3 billion accounts; sub-regional split; 347 million monthly active accounts; merchant payments $155 billion, bill payments $99 billion, cross-border remittances $45 billion, bulk disbursements $139 billion).
- Connecting Africa, $1.4T flowed through mobile money in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025, March 26, 2026 (Sub-Saharan Africa $1.4 trillion; 20 years to pass $1 trillion, four years to double to $2 trillion; East Africa $806 billion, West Africa $498 billion).
- Weetracker, Africa Drove Mobile Money to USD 2T, Now Most Accounts Sit Idle, March 30, 2026 (globally 25.7 percent of accounts active monthly; more than 1.7 billion registered accounts idle).
- World Bank, Global Findex 2025, via HiPipo, Mobile Money Is Rewriting Africa's Financial Story, October 12, 2026 (account ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa 58 percent of adults in 2024, up from 49 percent in 2021; the region has the world's highest mobile money account use).
Methodology
All figures are for calendar 2025, from the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026, released March 24, 2026, the latest annual edition available on November 11, 2026. The headline share, Sub-Saharan Africa at about two-thirds of global value, is exact on the published rounded figures: 1.4 divided by 2.09 is 67.0 percent. Africa's reported share of 66 percent is the GSMA's own figure from unrounded data; the rounded published totals give 68.4 percent, so this article uses "about two-thirds" and never prints a precise Africa share. The rest-of-world figure, about $0.69 trillion, is the global total minus Sub-Saharan Africa, and the "about twice as much" comparison is 1.4 divided by 0.69, or 2.03. East Africa's $806 billion exceeds the rest-of-world $690 billion. Every derived figure in this post was recomputed from these sources before publication: 92 divided by 125 is 73.6 percent, about 74 percent of transaction volume; 1.2 divided by 2.3 is 52.2 percent, about 52 percent of registered accounts; 347 divided by 1,200 is 28.9 percent, about 29 percent of African accounts active monthly; and East plus West Africa, 806 plus 498, is 91.1 percent of Africa's $1.43 trillion.
