Quite interesting developments are occurring on the African financial landscape. The growth of mobile payments services; agent banking; the increase in the use of crowdfunding mechanisms to raise finance; and the growing interest in the use of cryptocurrencies by Africans to transact have all contributed to this trend. A common factor running through these recent developments is their ability to facilitate financial inclusion. Another characteristic they all share is that they all have cross-border dimensions. This therefore requires a coordinated approach to regulation, of which a regional regulatory approach is likely to play a prominent role. The increasing speed of these developments in this era of financial technology calls for the urgent institution of a robust regional financial regulatory framework that addresses key issues raised by them and which this chapter considers.
