Nigeria Trails S.A And Kenya In Development Of Key B2B Payment Processes Across Africa
Nigeria is trailing South Africa and Kenya in the development of key B2B payment processes across Africa, including adoption of electronic bank transfers, speed of processing invoices and payment automation.
A new report from Duplo, a business payment platform for African businesses of all sizes, titled: ‘Exploring the State of B2B Payments in Africa report,’ surveyed opinions of more than 1,200 professionals from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana.
Findings of the report revealed that South Africa leads the way in electronic bank transfers, with 49.1 per cent choosing it as their preferred way to pay vendors, followed by Nigeria (48.5 per cent), Ghana (34 per cent) and Kenya (31.9 per cent).
“Kenya leads the way in payment automation, with 83.4 percent of Kenyans stating that their payment system was either semi-automated or fully automated, compared to Nigeria (79.9 per cent), South Africa (71.69 per cent) and Ghana (67.23 per cent).
The report revealed that in the area of speed of processing invoices, South Africa has a slender lead, with 39.93 percent, stating that it typically takes a day or less to process invoices compared with Nigeria’s 39.74 per cent”.
Africa’s B2B payment sector represents a significant, yet largely untapped opportunity, partly due to the complexity and larger transaction volumes associated with B2B payments.
According to the World Bank, the continent’s share of the global B2B payment opportunity stands at $1.5 trillion. Despite this promising potential, many businesses grapple with considerable payment delays and other issues with their payment processes that negatively impacts their cash flow and slows their growth.
CEO and co-founder of Duplo, Yele Oyekola, said: “Despite various challenges, the future of B2B payments in Africa is set for dynamic growth and innovation, signalling a new era of opportunities and expansion for the continent’s business ecosystem.
Source: Leadership News