Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as distinct from North Africa, is a melting pot of markets, countries and peoples – yet together these disperate markets are all exploding in terms of mVAS use. Sports and games lead the way, but increasingly with mobile as the only online devices in everyones’ hands, a raft of other digital and even non-digital services are appearing – and they are all very much underpinned by DCB, even wallets.
So, what does the market look like?
Content and distribution
Africa’s paid mobile content mix keeps shifting toward gaming, short-form video and utility bundles, with localised discovery (USSD, web flows, ad networks) still crucial. The gaming upswing is now well-documented: Africa hit $1.8bn in gaming revenue in 2024 – growing six-times faster than the global average, led by Nigeria and South Africa and driven 90% by mobile titles. That’s a strong tailwind for subscription games hubs, esports content, and carrier-billed trials across key markets.
Among World Telemedia Marbella 2025 sponsors active in African content and acquisition, Telecoming (sportech), Creative Clicks (performance acquisition) and Media Digital Group (premium video/audio) stand out, supported by regional aggregators such as MT2, Sam Media, Mobile Arts, MobiMind, and distribution/traffic specialists showing on the WTM exhibitors roll.
Billing and payments
DCB + mobile money = wider baskets. Africa is the world’s mobile-money heartland. GSMA reports 108bn transactions worth $1.68tn globally in 2024, with Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contributing the majority. With Africa processing some 65% of global value, this frames why DCB + wallets is now the default monetisation blend for mVAS.
TPAY Mobile pushes combined carrier billing and wallet coverage across MEA; its 2024/25 papers flag expansion into services beyond pure digital and growing intersections with open banking.
Meanwhile, operator fintechs scale: MTN MoMo reached 62m MAU in Q1’25; Airtel Money counted 44.6m customers with revenue up 30% YoY; Orange Money also reports strong growth – a bigger acceptance base for mVAS recurring payments and bundles.
Regulatory reset
VAS teams face a patchwork of national rules, but three hubs illustrate the direction of travel:
- South Africa (WASPA) – the industry code moved through several 2024/25 updates (v17.x), tightening consent, advertising and network-specific requirements. Compliance uplift has been visible since 2023 and SA’s market maturity often sets the regional benchmark.
- Nigeria (NCC) – updated VAS licensing and the long-standing VAS/aggregator framework require clearer service categories, opt-in transparency and fee disclosures; due diligence on promoters and short codes is non-negotiable.
- Kenya (KICA & CA) – premium-rate price/recurrence disclosures are embedded in law; short-code and PRS procedures emphasise licensing, audit trails and consumer protection—important for SMS/DCB funnels.
Fraud and security
Bot and remote-control attacks, fake creatives and click-jacking remain prevalent. Carriers and aggregators are leaning into pre-auth risk scoring, creative/journey monitoring, and post-charge dispute tooling. Evina publishes an Africa-specific DCB fraud landscape and has secured multi-market operator partnerships – Ooredoo group; historic deployments with Vodacom SA – while Empello and MCP Insight provide independent ad/journey monitoring and DDRC frameworks widely used in approvals. Expect more operator-mandated SDKs, independent pre-launch audits, and creative whitelisting, especially in SA, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya.
What it means for P&L
The playbook is multi-rail by design, so use DCB to maximise first-time conversions in carrier channels, then retain and up-sell via wallets (MoMo, Airtel Money, Orange Money) and cards where ARPPU supports fees.
With gaming booming and operators scaling fintech rails, merchants who localise journeys (language, handset tiers), comply with country codes, and harmonise DCB + wallet flows are seeing better unit economics and lower refund rates.
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Watch-list for next 6 to 12 months
- Operator fintech deepening – more wallet-DCB hybrids and bundle offers as MoMo/Airtel/Orange Money expand partner APIs and loyalty hooks.
- South Africa code updates could have regional spillover – WASPA enforcement patterns influencing other regulators’ expectations on consent/UX and ad quality.
- Category expansion – TPAY and others piloting mobility, ticketing, micro-insurance and other beyond-digital services with DCB + wallet checkout.
- Gaming + sports content: local IP and league tie-ups drive ARPPU; expect more carrier-bundle promos around tournaments.
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