A financial geography agenda for instant payment systems in Africa

The instant payment system (IPS) landscape in Africa is undergoing significant transformation due to technological advancements, regulatory changes and a growing drive for financial inclusion. This conceptual and agenda-setting study argues that IPSs are spatial projects structured by power geometries and develops a financial geography framework and research agenda for Africa’s IPS landscape. Despite technical and development rationales, the geographical nature of IPS infrastructures is often disregarded. For the African IPS landscape, four interlinked themes are highlighted: (i) the uneven geographies of financial inclusion, (ii) cross-border dynamics, (iii) regulatory geographies and (iv) data geographies, platform finance and algorithmic governance. This study proposes several questions, structured by the four interlinked themes, to guide future research on IPSs in Africa.