Digital Transformation in African Retail Banking: Adoption Barriers and Strategic Enablers

The proliferation of mobile technology within the African markets has fuelled the sweeping changes in retail banking- but, the digital transformation is still uneven and fraught with obstacles. Although the extent of financial inclusion has grown exponentially with innovations such as M-Pesa, most banks remain hesitant as the lack of their infrastructure and dividing regulations continue, as well as trust deficits. This paper decomposes both opportunities and constraints of digital transformation in African retail banking and investigates the strategic drivers that can fast-track the realization. This paper clarifies how Africa can not only play catch-up, but lead the world, in fintech innovation, grounded in theory (multi-theoretical framework, including TAM, institutional theory, ecosystem thinking) and the empirical trends (e.g.: ~60% of banks have already digitized most operations). The research has a realistic and visionary roadmap based on well-formulated research questions, comparative evaluation, and prospective observations.