Staff Writer 
MUKURU is positioning itself as a key player in Africa’s informal economy, a critical hub of grassroots commerce that accounts for around 75 percent of payment transactions across the continent.
The Pan-African remittance-led neobank is reshaping how millions of Africans save, send and spend money by meeting informal traders where they are.
Mukuru’s chief executive, Andy Jury, said simple digital tools, education and trust-based engagement are helping first-time users move from cash-only transactions into the formal banking and fintech ecosystem.
For decades, Africa’s informal economy has been the engine room of daily survival for millions, vibrant, resilient, but largely invisible to formal financial systems.
Jury said Africa’s informal sector dwarfs the formal economy, accounting for “somewhere between two-thirds and 75 percent of payment transactions,” most of which still happen in cash and outside regulated systems.
“Because it is informal and there are no records, it far outweighs or dwarfs the formal financial services ecosystem that we have in Africa,” he said in an interview with SABC Channel Africa.
Mukuru, he explained, operates at the intersection of these two worlds. The fintech giant focuses on customers who are often engaging with formal finance for the first time.
“Ninety-five percent of our customers come to us having never touched a bank account or a digital financial instrument,” Jury said. “All you need is a mobile phone and some form of ID, and we take you on a journey to store, send, spend and lend.”
That journey, he said, is designed to build trust, digital skills and transaction history over time, key building blocks for financial inclusion.
As customers transact more, services become cheaper and more accessible, enabling them to borrow, insure themselves and grow their businesses using data they generate themselves.
The Mukuru Group chief executive highlighted structural barriers that continue to exclude informal traders and migrants, including rigid paperwork requirements.
“You can’t get a job without a bank account, and you can’t get a bank account without proof of employment. You are structurally excluded,” he said, adding that fintechs can help break this cycle.
Trust remains another major hurdle. “If you have always transacted in cash, you can see it and count it. You may not trust a digital wallet in quite the same way,” he said.
Mukuru addresses this through field ambassadors who speak dozens of African languages and educate customers face-to-face.
Mukuru is also unlocking productivity by offering instant, affordable and secure payments across 13 African markets.
Traders who once spent days crossing borders to move cash can now transact instantly.
“People end up with more money in their back pocket,” Jury said, “and more time to invest in farming, fishing, building or creating valuable things for their families.”
He stressed that for Mukuru, fintech is not just about technology but more about turning Africa’s informal hustle into a tangible, formal economic opportunity.
