Africa’s largely informal economy presents a significant opportunity for technology, finance and investment, according to Adedayo Amzat, Group Managing Director of Zedcrest Group, who has called for greater use of technology and data to unlock value across the continent.

Amzat made the remarks while discussing investment opportunities, technology and the evolving African economy during a conversation on the Mindset programme. He explained that his journey into the investment space began after more than a decade in banking, where he recognised the need for stronger participation from non-bank players to deepen financial markets.

According to him, traditional investment instruments such as stocks, fixed income and fixed deposits remain important, but the evolution of Zedcrest has created opportunities to provide broader investment and asset management solutions.

He noted that investment, at its core, involves putting value into an opportunity that can generate income over time. For him, the emergence of technology-driven investment models is not necessarily about creating entirely new economic systems, but about reorganising existing activities in ways that make them more efficient, measurable and valuable.

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Amzat pointed to Africa’s informal economy as one of the biggest areas where technology can create this transformation. He said a significant proportion of economic activity across the continent remains informal and largely cash-based, despite the growing penetration of technology.

The challenge, he explained, is that enormous economic activity takes place without adequate records, making it difficult for businesses and individuals operating within the informal economy to access formal financial services.

He cited the example of distributors and retailers within Nigeria’s extensive consumer goods value chain. A product may move from a manufacturer through several layers of distributors and retailers before reaching the final consumer, creating significant economic activity at every stage.

However, because many of those transactions are not properly digitised, the businesses involved may struggle to demonstrate their actual financial capacity to lenders.

Amzat said technology companies are increasingly addressing this gap by digitising transactions and creating reliable records that can give financial institutions better insight into the performance of informal businesses.

A retailer who previously had little formal financial history, for instance, could potentially demonstrate substantial transaction volumes once business activities are properly captured digitally. Such data can then provide lenders with greater visibility and potentially improve access to financing.

The same opportunity exists for artisans and other informal workers whose economic contributions often remain largely invisible within the formal financial system.

Amzat argued that digitising their activities could create verifiable records of income and transactions, potentially allowing more people to participate in financial products that are readily available to formally employed Nigerians.

The Zedcrest GMD also cautioned investors against making decisions based on the fear of missing out, particularly as new technologies and asset classes attract public attention.

He explained that speculative enthusiasm can sometimes push the price of a new asset significantly beyond its underlying value, creating bubbles that can expose inexperienced investors to substantial losses.

Rather than chasing trends, he advised investors to focus on value and the fundamental strength of the businesses or assets they are considering.

For early-stage investors in particular, Amzat said scalability should be one of the most important considerations. Investors should look for businesses that can grow significantly beyond their initial customer base rather than companies designed primarily to generate income for their founders.

He urged investors to consider the potential size of the market and how the industry could evolve over the next decade.

Using demographic trends as an example, he noted that Africa’s young and growing population presents significant long-term opportunities for businesses capable of solving problems that will become increasingly important as the continent develops.

Amzat also identified finance as a critical enabler of economic growth across Africa. While fintech remains a popular area of investment, he explained that his interest in the sector goes beyond fintech itself.

He described finance as the “plumbing” of the economy, arguing that as other industries expand, they require financing to support infrastructure, equipment, employment and expansion.

“If media develops, then what happens to media? You build new studios, you buy new machines, you hire more people. Finance goes on,” he explained.

According to him, one of Nigeria’s biggest untapped opportunities remains credit. While developed economies have deeply established credit systems that enable individuals to finance homes, cars and other major purchases, access to similar forms of credit remains limited for many Nigerians.

He believes this represents a major opportunity for businesses capable of creating responsible and scalable credit solutions.

Amzat further argued that Africa’s stage of economic development presents investors with enormous opportunities because many sectors are still being built and formalised.

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He compared Africa’s current position with China several decades ago, when economic reforms and rapid development began transforming the country and creating new markets.

With Africa’s population expected to continue growing and a large proportion of its population remaining young, he said businesses that solve today’s problems could find themselves serving much larger markets in the years ahead.

For Amzat, the investment opportunity therefore extends beyond the fashionable sectors attracting the most attention. The bigger opportunities may lie in solving fundamental problems across Africa’s economy, particularly in areas where technology can improve efficiency, create transparency and unlock access to capital.

The conversation ultimately highlighted the intersection between technology, finance and Africa’s informal economy, with Amzat stressing that the continent’s next wave of economic growth could come from transforming activities that already exist rather than simply creating entirely new ones.

As technology continues to digitise businesses, workers and transactions across Africa, the ability to convert previously invisible economic activity into reliable data could become one of the continent’s most important drivers of financial inclusion, investment and wealth creation.