Having been part of the steering committee for the WEF’s most recent fintech white paper that examines the state of fintech globally was a great and insightful experience.

The fintech industry’s expansion over the last 10 years has been a powerful catalyst for innovation, inclusion and growth in the financial services sector and the wider economy. Fintechs have boosted competition by reducing lending spreads, increased inclusion by serving previously unbanked and underbanked consumers and small and medium enterprises and provided banks with new technologies and services. Venture capital has played a key role in enabling fintech innovation and has been an important driver of the industry’s development like in many other verticals.

However, many fintech companies across regions still struggle to find the funding they need to grow and scale their activities, in particular where they have to build a scalable balance sheet for e.g. lending services and fulfill regulatory debt-to-equity thresholds. Building balance sheets should come from a different source and type of capital. The white paper unveils some interesting stats and figures and opportunities for VCs. Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Middle East and North Africa collectively only received 10% of global fintech funding during 2020-23, yet are projected to generate 15% of global fintech revenue by 2028 underlining the capital efficiency of founders in those regions.

Below please see the full version of the WEF white paper published in September 2024.