The share of adults in sub-Saharan Africa who saved through formal channels surged by 12 percentage points to 35 in 2024, the second-highest regional rate after East Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Bank's Global Findex Database 2025.
Four in 10 adults in sub-Saharan Africa had a mobile money account as of 2024, up from 27 three years ago, with the share of those using them to save increasing by more than 10 percentage points to 23.
"Higher personal saving - through banks or other formal institutions - fuels national financial systems, making more funds available for investment, innovation and economic growth," the report said.
Africa's young, tech-savvy population is increasingly using mobile phones to bridge gaps in services including banking. This has opened a lucrative and fast-growing space in the fintech sector for wireless carriers, such as MTN Group, Orange, Vodacom Group, Airtel Africa and Safaricom.