Financial Partnership

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) forged a partnership with China’s leading fintech company Ant Financial in August to promote financial inclusion on the continent.

ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe stressed the importance of digital financial inclusion platforms for Africa’s future development and underscored the positive prospects of working in partnership with Ant Financial.

Ant Financial is an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and a specialist in online financial services.

Digital financial inclusion platforms could help Africa realize the global sustainable development goals as well as the continental Agenda 2063, an ECA statement quoted Songwe as saying.

Noting that Ant Financial runs one of the world’s largest online payment platforms, valued at $150 billion, Songwe pointed out that Africa has an “opportunity to leapfrog technology for social, financial and political inclusion” by working with the Chinese giant.

Ant Financial CEO Jing Xiandong said that the company serves over 650 million people on a daily basis and is recording tremendous success in efforts to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in many countries such as India and the Philippines.

He said that he believes the company can replicate its success in Africa so that financial inclusion can