Kenya is leading Africa in the development of key B2B payment processes, including the adoption of electronic bank transfers, speed of processing invoices and payment automation.

The latest report by Duplo, a business payment platform surveyed the opinions of more than 1,200 professionals, with 83.4 per cent of Kenyans stating that their payment system was either semi-automated or fully automated.

This is way ahead of Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana where 79.9, 71.69 and 67.23 per cent are at least automated. 

However, when it came to the speed of processing invoices, South Africa has a slender lead, with 39.93 per cent stating that it typically takes a day or less to process invoices compared with Nigeria’s 39.74 per cent.

Furthermore, South Africa leads the way in electronic bank transfers, with 49.1 per cent choosing it as their preferred way to pay vendors, followed by Nigeria (48.5 per cent), Ghana (34 per cent) and Kenya (31.9 per cent). 

The report says that Africa’s B2B payment sector represents a significant, yet largely untapped opportunity.

This is partly due to the complexity and larger transaction volumes associated with B2B payments.

According to the World Bank, the continent’s share of the global B2B payment opportunity stands at $1.5 trillion.

"However, despite this promising potential, many businesses grapple with considerable payment delays and other issues with their payment processes that negatively impact their cash flow and slow their growth.'', the report reads.

In recent years, digital payments solutions have eased many of these challenges but there remains a number of issues to be addressed in the journey of easing the flow of money between businesses in Africa.

Security ranked as the most critical feature across the board for respondents when choosing B2B payment software, with 35.89 per cent selecting it as the feature they valued the most.

Across individual countries, security was also the top feature - Kenya (39.9 percent), Ghana (36 per cent), South Africa (35.6 per cent) and Nigeria (32.2 per cent) - emphasising the importance companies attach to safeguarding their financial data.

Last year, Kenya’s losses to cyber criminals reached Sh3.6 billion, compared to Nigeria and South Africa where they are nearly tenfold at Sh50 billion and Sh57 billion respectively.

Functionality and ease of use (17.6 per cent), multiple payment options (13.5 percent) and speed (12.9 percent) follow, showing a preference for payment flexibility and quick transactions.

Pricing (11.5 per cent) and scalability (8.2  ) are less prioritised, suggesting a focus on functionality and immediate needs.

According to Yele Oyekola, CEO and co-founder of Duplo, despite various challenges, the future of B2B payments in Africa is set for dynamic growth and innovation, signaling a new era of opportunities and expansion for the continent's business ecosystem.

"The opportunity to automate accounts payable and receivable and transform other aspects of the B2B payments process offers great potential to reduce payment delays, enhance cash flow and drive growth for businesses across the continent,'' Oyekola said. 

The expert adds that the increased adoption of digital solutions also implies a shift in workplace dynamics and positions finance professionals to add more value to their organisations.

"We are looking forward to playing a major role in the realisation of these opportunities and the delivery of technology solutions to support growth for businesses in Africa.”