The World Bank identifies Africa as a hotspot for mobile and smartphone-based payments and highlights their potential to improve public transport and support more inclusive cities. Yet public transport in many African markets remains heavily dependent on cash. The opportunity is therefore not simply to replace cash with another payment method, but to connect transport to the mobile-led financial ecosystems that millions of commuters already use every day.
Cash to digital: a changing payment landscape
Across Africa, cash remains important for everyday payments, including public transport, but the payment landscape is changing rapidly. The World Bank reports that 49% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa had a financial account in 2021, while mobile money has become a major driver of financial inclusion, with 33% of adults holding a mobile money account. At the same time, millions of adults still make or receive common payments in cash.
The contrast is particularly clear across individual markets. Mauritius has one of the region's highest account-ownership rates, at 91%, while mobile money has become a major financial channel in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. In Nigeria, where cash has historically been the dominant payment method, mobile payments increased by 19% in volume and 30% in value during the first half of 2024, reaching 3.49 billion transactions worth ₦159.4 trillion.
Public transport sits directly in the middle of this transition. It is one of the most frequent payments people make and therefore one of the clearest opportunities to turn digital financial access into a practical everyday service.
Why financial inclusion matters
Financial inclusion is increasingly being shaped by the mobile phone. In Sub-Saharan Africa, account ownership reached 58% of adults in 2024, up from 49% in 2021, with mobile money playing a major role in that growth. The region also remains the global centre of mobile money, accounting for half of the world's registered mobile money accounts. This makes mobile wallet particularly relevant to public transport and act as a connecting point between formal finance and public services.
A commuter who already uses a mobile wallet to send, receive and store money or pay bills is the main target. Instead of introducing a separate financial ecosystem, transport can become another everyday use case within an ecosystem, commuters already understand. For transport authorities, mobile ticketing creates an opportunity to make digital payments more accessible while supporting the wider shift from cash to formal, traceable financial services.
Mobile money, wallet integrations, QR codes and even USSD can provide digital access to commuters who may not hold a conventional bank account or international payment card. A modern Automated Fare Collection system needs to support mobile wallets alongside bank cards, transport cards, QR codes, cash-transition mechanisms and other locally relevant payment methods.
Benefits of mobile ticketing for commuters
While mobile ticketing provides additional payment channel for the operator, it also makes public transport easier to access without requiring commuters to adopt a separate payment method. A mobile app can bring ticket purchase, payment, journey information and account management into one familiar channel.
Key benefits include:
OCITY mobile ticketing app example:
Mobile ticketing can contribute to financial inclusion when it connects public transport to payment tools that commuters already use. Four areas are particularly relevant:
The opportunity is not to make mobile the only way to pay. It is to make it one of several accessible options within an Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system, so commuters can use the payment method that works for them. This is particularly relevant in Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile money has been a major driver of financial inclusion and digital payments continue to expand.
Why AFC needs to support multiple payment methods
Automated Fare Collection (AFC) is the technology infrastructure used to automate how public transport fares are collected, processed and managed. It connects payment methods, validators, fare rules, ticketing and back-office systems, allowing operators to manage transactions while commuters access transport without relying on manual fare collection.
For an inclusive transport system, an AFC platform needs to accommodate different levels of access to bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards and smartphones. Account-based ticketing supports this by separating the commuter’s travel account from a specific physical payment medium. A single fare collection environment can therefore support mobile tickets, QR codes, bank cards, transport cards and e-wallets.
O-CITY uses an account-based architecture that supports multiple payment methods and transport modes within the same platform.
O-CITY in practice: four African markets
There is no single model for digital fare collection across Africa. Payment habits, transport structures and levels of financial inclusion vary significantly between markets, and implementations need to reflect those differences. O-CITY projects across Africa show how different payment methods can be connected to public transport systems and adapted to local payment habits.
In East Africa, mobile money can act as the natural bridge into public transport. Kenya provides one example. O-CITY's work with the matatu network connected fare collection with M-Pesa, allowing commuters to use mobile-based payment mechanisms including SMS and USSD. Through the Lipafare application, over 10000 drivers can receive digital payments and accept QR codes. A similar principle can be seen in West Africa. In Abidjan, Moja Ride combines QR, NFC and a prepaid mobility card Moja Carte, while allowing the card to be topped up through mobile money and agent networks.
Further south, Johannesburg Metrobus is showing how contactless payments can support the digitalisation of formal bus networks. Monthly passenger numbers expected to reach hundreds of thousands with ridership expected to almost double as contactless payments and mobile top-ups gain adoption. All validators have been modernised to support contactless payments, alongside station gates and mobile inspection POS terminals, creating a seamless tap-in tap-out payment experience across Johannesburg.
While in North Africa, the scale can be very different. Egypt's national railway environment brings together open- and closed-loop ticketing across all its 600+ stations serving more than two million commuters daily that take over 60 million rides. Mobile applications, third-party wallet integration and QR payments operate alongside other fare media, demonstrating how mobile payments can become part of a national-scale ticketing ecosystem rather than a standalone application.
Making public transport more inclusive through mobile payments
Digital inclusion does not require every African market to follow the same payment model. Mobile ticketing can make digital public transport payments more accessible by building on payment tools commuters already use. When combined with an AFC platform that supports multiple payment methods, it can help transport authorities create more inclusive and connected payment ecosystems.
Discover how O-CITY can help your transport network move towards more accessible digital payments: https://www.o-city.com/mobile-ticketing