Ten years after its launch, Apple Pay remains largely absent from the majority of African countries. While the mobile payment service has revolutionized digital transactions in many parts of the world, its footprint in Africa has been almost absent. However, its rival Samsung Pay, the Samsungs’s mobile payment service, uses a combination of Magstripe emulation (MSE) and NFC technology to process payments through existing payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
Although each African country has its own unique financial regulations and payment systems. Navigating these complexities can be time-consuming and costly for Apple. But Apple has not complained about any country’s regulatory.
Apple Pay requires a robust payment infrastructure, including secure networks and widespread card acceptance, is essential for the successful adoption of mobile payment services. In many African countries like Nigeria meets this requirement
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Apple often relies on partnerships with local banks and financial institutions to provide Apple Pay services. Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa and has a great number of Banks out of which has branches in UK and France. So is actually the challenge of Apple to allow some of its customers to access the payment gateway.
The level of smartphone penetration and digital literacy among consumers can influence the potential market for mobile payment services. Only one Mobile operator in Nigeria has over 40 million smartphone users. This is about the population of some European countries that you still have apple pay
Despite these challenges, Apple has shown interest in expanding its presence in Africa. As the continent’s digital landscape continues to evolve, it’s possible that Apple Pay will eventually become more widely available. However, for now, the majority of African consumers will continue to enjoy other payment platforms available
