It is beginning to make commercial decisions, negotiate purchases and complete transactions on behalf of users.

This emerging model, known as agentic commerce, has the potential to reshape how businesses procure goods, consumers shop and organisations manage payments.

The shift is already underway. Global payment companies, including Visa and Mastercard, have announced new frameworks that enable trusted AI agents to initiate and complete payments under user-defined rules.

Rather than simply recommending products or analysing data, AI agents are increasingly being designed to execute transactions on behalf of individuals and businesses within approved limits.

For Africa, the implications extend far beyond consumer convenience.

The continent has already demonstrated its ability to leapfrog traditional financial infrastructure through mobile money, fintech innovation and digital banking.

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded within financial services, procurement and enterprise operations, a new question is emerging:

Is Africa ready for agentic payments?

• The rapid expansion of digital payments.

• The growing adoption of artificial intelligence.

• The digital transformation of commerce and procurement.

Individually, each of these trends has attracted significant investment over the past decade, and together, they could fundamentally change how businesses buy, sell and transact.

Unlike conventional digital payments, which still require people to initiate transactions, agentic payments allow AI systems to perform many of these tasks autonomously while operating within predefined rules established by users or organisations.

An AI procurement assistant, for example, could identify suppliers, compare quotations, verify compliance requirements, negotiate pricing, prepare purchase orders and complete payments once approval conditions are met.

Similarly, an AI finance assistant could reconcile invoices, optimise payment timing or renew subscriptions without requiring manual intervention.

These capabilities remain at an early stage. However, the infrastructure needed to support them is already being built.

For Africa, where digital transformation has often progressed through technological leapfrogging, understanding these developments is becoming increasingly important.

Five Numbers That Explain Africa’s Opportunity

US$40 Billion

According to McKinsey & Company, Africa’s electronic payments market was projected to generate approximately US$40 billion in annual revenues by 2025.

This is important because agentic payments will not replace payment infrastructure. Instead, they will operate on top of existing payment rails.

The stronger Africa’s digital payments ecosystem becomes, the easier it will be to support AI-driven commerce.

Digital payment infrastructure is therefore not simply a fintech success story—it is the foundation upon which future autonomous commerce will depend.

188 Billion Electronic Payment Transactions

McKinsey also estimates that Africa will process approximately 188 billion domestic electronic payment transactions annually.

This demonstrates the scale of digital commerce already taking place across the continent.

Every digital payment creates data, builds trust in electronic transactions and strengthens payment infrastructure. These are essential ingredients for future AI-enabled purchasing and payment systems.

US$61–103 Billion

McKinsey estimates that generative AI could unlock between US$61 billion and US$103 billion in annual economic value across Africa.

While this estimate covers the broader AI economy rather than payments specifically, it highlights the scale of the opportunity if AI adoption continues to accelerate across financial services, logistics, healthcare, manufacturing and government.

Agentic payments are likely to become one of several commercial applications contributing to this broader economic transformation.

54 Countries

Africa is the world’s largest continental free trade area.

Through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), businesses are increasingly looking beyond domestic markets toward regional trade opportunities.

As cross-border commerce expands, businesses will require faster, more intelligent systems capable of managing supplier relationships, verifying compliance, handling multiple currencies and executing secure payments across jurisdictions.

AI agents could eventually become an important layer supporting these increasingly complex commercial workflows.

Millions of African Businesses

Africa is home to millions of small and medium-sized enterprises that continue to manage procurement, invoicing and payments through highly manual processes.

For many businesses, procurement still involves multiple emails, spreadsheets, paper documentation and manual approvals.

The greatest opportunity for agentic payments in Africa may therefore lie not in consumer shopping but in helping businesses automate procurement, supplier management and financial operations.

Where Adoption Is Most Likely to Begin

Although public attention often focuses on AI-powered shopping assistants, enterprise use cases are likely to drive early adoption in Africa.

Procurement

Governments, development finance institutions, multinational corporations and private enterprises collectively manage substantial procurement activities every year.

AI agents could help organisations identify suppliers, compare bids, verify documentation and execute approved payments while reducing administrative costs.

Cross-Border Trade

As intra-African trade grows, businesses will increasingly require intelligent systems capable of navigating different payment systems, currencies and regulatory requirements.

Agentic commerce could simplify many of these processes.

Banking and Financial Services

Financial institutions are already using AI to improve fraud detection, customer support and credit assessment.

The next phase could involve AI agents assisting customers and businesses with payments, treasury management and financial operations.

Logistics and Supply Chains

Supply chains involve multiple suppliers, contracts, invoices and payment milestones.

AI agents could improve efficiency by coordinating these activities while ensuring payments occur only when predefined conditions are satisfied.

The Challenges Cannot Be Ignored

Despite the excitement surrounding agentic AI, widespread adoption is far from guaranteed.

The IMF identifies several issues that must be addressed before autonomous commerce can scale safely.

Trust and Authorisation

Businesses and consumers must remain confident that AI agents are acting only within approved limits.

Clear authorisation frameworks will be essential.

Digital Identity

Secure digital identity systems will become increasingly important for verifying both users and AI agents participating in commercial transactions.

Regulation

Governments and regulators will need to establish clear rules governing AI accountability, consumer protection, liability and payment authorisation.

Cybersecurity

As AI agents gain greater authority over financial transactions, protecting payment systems from fraud and cyber threats will become even more critical.

These challenges are not unique to Africa. They are global issues that will shape the pace of adoption everywhere.

Africa’s Opportunity

Africa has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to adopt transformative technologies in ways that differ from more mature markets.

Mobile money became a global success story after solving uniquely African challenges.

Fintech companies expanded financial inclusion by building products designed around local realities rather than legacy banking infrastructure.

Agentic payments could follow a similar trajectory.

Rather than focusing primarily on consumer retail, Africa may find its greatest opportunities in enterprise procurement, trade finance, logistics, agriculture and business-to-business commerce—areas where automation can deliver measurable productivity gains.

The technology remains in its early stages, but the conversation has already begun.

Businesses, financial institutions and policymakers that understand these developments today will be better positioned to shape tomorrow’s digital economy.