Mobile money in East Africa has crossed the line from novelty to utility. The recent decade has been less about adoption (that war is won) and more about integration: credit scoring from transaction histories, savings products inside chat apps, merchant credit at the duka down the road. The frontier has moved from payments to financial depth.
For founders, the lesson is uncomfortable and clarifying at once. Growth metrics built on registration counts flatter to deceive; the durable businesses are those measured against wallets that stay funded, loans that get repaid and merchants that never go back to cash. The next decade of African fintech will be won by boring excellence: risk models, unit economics and regulator relationships.