Jack Ma’s visit to Africa and his gift of $10 million to tech startups on the continent may be yielding results with the announcement by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) that it is collaborating with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and Ant Financial (Ant) to promote digital financial inclusion in Africa, through investment and technical capacity building.
Ant Financial is an affiliate company of Alibaba Group co-founded by Jack Ma. The company runs one of the world’s largest online payment platforms valued at $150 billion.
The collaboration which was sealed in a meeting that involved ECA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, Ant Financial’s CEO Eric Jing, IFC’s VP and Treasurer and President Mulatu Teshome of Ethiopia, could see Ant be the financial bridge between small businesses in Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 say we should leave no one behind, and many people have been asking what happens to SMEs with the AfCFTA,” Vera Songwe said after the meeting. “So we are thinking about what platforms we can together to ensure that not only big companies take advantage of the AfCFTA but also small companies.”
In signing the deal, Ant Financials will be expected to replicate its recent successes in countries like China, India, and the Philippines.
“We are bringing Ant Financial, which has the largest platform for financial inclusion and assists people with very small financial capacity to be involved in the society,” Songwe said.
The collaboration indicates Alibaba’s seriousness in becoming a major player in Africa’s growing fintech space. At the time Jing was in Ethiopia sealing the agreement, Jack Ma, cofounder of Alibaba was in South Africa launching a $10 million Netpreneur Prize for startups in Africa. South Africa it should be noted was the first country to run Alipay on the continent, but it would not be its last.
In June, 2018 Ant Financial entered a partnership with Equitel in Kenya to enable Alipay and WeChat payments in the country. While in Johannesburg, Jack Ma made no secret as to the direction of his investment on the continent as he kept referring to payments as among the big challenges facing the continent.
