A new global survey dubbed The Cashless Journey shows that 43 percent of South Africans, 27 percent of Kenyans and 7 percent of Egyptians have adopted a cashless system for paying bills, buying goods and paying for services.

Covering 33 countries in Africa, the report said Kenyan mobile money platform M-Pesa has contributed significantly to cashless payments with many other providers in the region rolling out similar products.

Although many countries have promoted use of credit cards and electronic fund transfers, policy on handling cash has been overlooked, said Peer Stein, director of access to finance advisory services at the International Finance Corp.

“What seems to be overlooked in the policy dialogue is that cash takes time to access, is riskier to carry, and costs a country up to 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product,” Stein said. “We cannot expect the journey from cash toward electronic payments to be completed overnight, yet driven by technological advances and public-private partnerships this trend has gathered significant momentum over the past few years.”

Thirty-one percent of Kenya’s GDP is transacted through mobile money, according to  A recent infographic presented by GSMA mobile for development.

The infographic chronicles the development of mobile money in Kenya, where Safaricom’s M-Pesa beats out Airtel Money and Orange money.