With 10%, the infrastructure category of fintech companies had the highest prevalence of scale, compared to two to eight percent in other categories, according to the report.

Infrastructure companies provide basic systems upon which all other technologies work and the are probably the first to launch, Smith says.

“They have a real incumbency advantage. Once they’re established, it’s very hard to like push them out, to shift them out. Because they already have these strong relationships and networks across other companies,” he says.

Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech, and innovation in your inbox.

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.