Seven things African fintechs are asking regulators for.

In February 2007 the Central Bank of Kenya allowed Safaricom to launch M-Pesa with a letter of no objection. Kenya had no law for mobile money at the time. The central bank set conditions, asked for monthly returns and approved each new service as it came.

Kenya is now writing that approach into law. The National Payment System Bill, 2026, published for public comment in September by the National Treasury and the Central Bank, would give the bank a statutory basis to run a regulatory sandbox. Firms could test new payment services with limited access to the national payment system before they hold a full licence. Public comments closed on 9 October.

Sandboxes are one of seven requests that come up again and again in the Fintech Association of Kenya’s (FINTAK) work with founders, financial institutions and regulators across the continent. Each one aims at the same balance: products that reach the market quickly, and customers who are protected when they get there.

A patchwork of progress.

Africa’s regulatory landscape mixes new tools with old rules. Several regulators have opened doors to innovation.

• South Africa: the Financial Sector Conduct Authority is one of the regulators behind the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, whose Innovation Hub opened in April 2020 with a regulatory sandbox. Its first cohort admitted nine of 54 applicants.
• Kenya: the Capital Markets Authority has run a regulatory sandbox since 2019. In 2021 the Insurance Regulatory Authority and FSD Africa launched BimaLab, an accelerator that connects insurance start-ups with insurers and regulators.
• Uganda: the Insurance Regulatory Authority has reworked its product-approval process and set out guidelines for a regulatory sandbox.
• Rwanda: the National Bank of Rwanda runs a sandbox, with six firms testing payments, lending and crowdfunding products by 2023. The national FinTech Strategy for 2024 to 2029 aims to cut the time to license a fintech to three or four months.
• Ghana: the National Insurance Commission launched InnoLab, an insurtech accelerator, in 2022, and in October 2024 admitted its first five insurtechs to a regulatory sandbox.

Elsewhere, frameworks remain rigid. Start-ups face compliance costs built for large institutions, approvals that take months and guidance that leaves room for doubt. Here is what innovators are asking for.

1. Faster routes to market.

The most consistent request is for a simpler, quicker path to launch. An approval process that runs for months can burn through a start-up’s runway before its product reaches a customer. Founders describe long exchanges of letters with regulators and heavy documentation for each new product. Rwanda’s three-to-four-month licensing target gives other regulators a benchmark to publish against.

What innovators are asking for:

• Published licensing criteria and fixed timelines for decisions
• A fast track for early-stage firms with limited funding
• Online portals for licensing and compliance filings, replacing paperwork and office visits
• Clear, current public guidance on requirements, product approvals and regulatory reporting

2. Clarity on what is allowed.

Innovators want to know what is permitted, especially for new technologies and business models. When the rules are unclear, companies hold back on building products they are not sure they will be allowed to sell.

Kenya’s crypto sector is a recent example. Virtual asset firms operated for years without a licensing regime. The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, in force since 21 October 2025, now names the Central Bank and the Capital Markets Authority as their licensing regulators.

3. A working relationship.

Innovators want a standing dialogue with regulators. They see the gaps in the market; regulators guard the stability of the system. Regular contact lets each side understand the other before a product reaches the licensing desk.

What innovators are asking for:

• Regular consultations through innovation forums, hackathons and roundtables
• Dedicated liaison officers who engage with start-ups and guide them through the rules
• Public-private partnerships that build solutions together. Rwanda’s FinTech Centre, launched in March 2026 by the ICT ministry, the Kigali International Financial Centre, the ICT Chamber, the country’s fintech association and Luxembourg’s development agency, is one model.

Dialogue works when regulators keep up with the market. That means building in-house expertise in emerging technologies, understanding new business models and tracking how the market is changing.

4. Room to test safely.

There is strong appetite for sandboxes and innovation hubs where new ideas can be tested under supervision. Kenya’s BimaLab has shown how such spaces help start-ups refine a product and test whether it can make money before a full launch.

Blockchain, artificial intelligence and embedded finance often fall between existing rules. Without room to test, founders say, they either work in legal grey areas or launch somewhere else first.

What innovators are asking for:

• Sandboxes that reach beyond payments and lending into insurance, pensions and agricultural finance
• Letters of no objection, the instrument that launched M-Pesa, to allow time-bound testing of products the rules do not yet cover
• Test-and-learn regulation, with rules that evolve as the technology does

5. Incentives to build.

Innovation needs heavy investment in research, technology and people. Incentives lower the cost of taking those risks. Regulators control some of these levers, and finance ministries control others.

What innovators are asking for:

• Reduced or waived licensing and compliance fees for early-stage firms
• Tax relief for start-ups that invest in research and development or serve underserved customers
• Grants for pilot projects in high-impact areas such as pay-as-you-go energy and health financing

6. Proportionate rules that put consumers first.

Markets grow on trust. Start-ups need rules that protect consumers without burying small firms in requirements meant for banks. Regulation should be risk-based, with obligations matched to the risk an activity or institution poses.

Kenya’s draft payments bill tiers its requirements. It sets out 10 licence categories, with minimum capital ranging from KSh 5m to KSh 250m.

What innovators are asking for:

• Different requirements for start-ups and established institutions
• Enforced data-protection rules that safeguard privacy and still allow responsible use of data
• Partnerships between regulators and innovators on consumer education, to build trust in digital financial services

7. Rules that cross borders.

Fintechs that grow beyond one market meet a different rulebook in each country. Continental infrastructure is taking shape: the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System has been running since January 2022, and African Union heads of state adopted the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade in February 2024. Regulation has yet to catch up.

What innovators are asking for:

• Harmonised regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions
• Coordinated supervision of cross-border activity
• Shared standards and practices among regulators
• Supervisory technology, including digital reporting and remote oversight, so regulators can watch more activity at lower cost

The path forward

African innovators are asking for regulation they can plan around, and that protects the people who use their products. That requires regulators to build the capacity to assess new technologies, match requirements to risk, set clear terms for partnerships between incumbents and new entrants, and keep strong consumer safeguards in place.

Kenya’s sandbox clause will be one early test. The bill would give the Central Bank the power to create a sandbox; the regulations that would set one up have yet to be written. How regulators across the continent answer requests like these will shape how far, and how fast, African financial innovation travels.