Agentic Payments & Stablecoins 2.0 (The Fintech Brief by Samora)
The Fintech Brief with Samora is a recurring fireside chat series co-hosted by Samora Kariuki and A&A Collective, exploring the trends, innovations, and market shifts shaping Africa's financial ecosystem from payments and digital banking to emerging technologies and new opportunities across the continent.
In Part 1, Samora walked through the foundations of agentic payments: what they are, how the global stack is taking shape, the fragmented standards race between players such as Google, Stripe, Coinbase, and Visa, and why the dominant commercial model in any market ultimately determines what can scale there.
In Part 2, the conversation shifts to Africa.
What could agentic commerce actually look like on the continent? How will local payment habits and market structures shape its adoption? And where do stablecoins fit in, not just as a cross-border payment tool, but as a programmable rail for the high-frequency, low-cost transactions that traditional payment systems struggle to support efficiently?
About Samora Kariuki
Samora Kariuki is a leading voice in African fintech and the founder of Frontier Fintech, a platform that delivers in-depth research and insights while connecting fintech executives, banks, and investors across the continent. A former regional banking executive and fintech entrepreneur, Samora is passionate about digital transformation and economic innovation in Africa. Through his writing, podcasts, events, and ecosystem-building work, he is helping shape conversations around the future of financial services on the continent.
About Wanjiku Kimani
Wanjiku Kimani is an economist and ecosystem builder working at the intersection of capital, innovation, and emerging technologies. Through her work with Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx), The Baobab Network, and Genesis Analytics, she has spent more than a decade supporting founders, investors, and policymakers navigating innovation, financial inclusion, and technology adoption across Africa.
She is also the founder of Heels & Green, a future-of-work and professional mobility platform serving more than 1,300 women across Africa and beyond. Wanjiku has a particular interest in blockchain, digital assets, and the ways emerging technologies are reshaping money, markets, and economic participation in emerging economies.