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By : Guardian Nigeria
Date: 2 Jun 2025
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Aiming to improve financial literacy and inclusion, to help Africans make more informed financial decisions in real-life scenarios, seasoned technology corporate strategy consultant, Matthew Alaofin, is proposing leveraging the transformative potential of AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants in advancing customer service and financial literacy in Africa.
Alaofin boasts of 15 years of experience at the intersection of finance, technology, and innovation. He has continued to help drive strategic transformation and unlock growth across global markets and is pushing for an innovative approach to addressing operational burdens in the continent’s financial technology sector.
Alaofin argues that customer service in Africa’s financial technology sector grapples with several persistent challenges that have continued to create a frustrating experience for consumers and a significant operational burden for businesses.
According to him, “A large portion of the population remains unbanked or underbanked, often due to a lack of understanding of financial products, geographical barriers to physical branches, and crucially, a language barrier that alienates them from standard, often English or French-centric, service channels.
“Customer service in many African contexts is often characterised by long wait times, limited 24/7 availability, and a reliance on human agents who may not always be fluent in a customer’s local dialect or adequately trained to handle complex financial queries,” he added.

He also lamented the lack of financial literacy in underserved areas and communities, citing it as a critical concern. “Many individuals, especially in rural or marginalised communities, lack basic financial knowledge, hindering their ability to make informed decisions about savings, investments, loans, and managing debt. Educational initiatives often struggle to scale effectively due to resource constraints and the challenge of delivering content in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.”

Alaofin noted that a technological revolution is on the horizon, which he believes will bridge the divides. He stated that the emergence of AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants tailored for local African languages will advance financial literacy, fostering greater inclusion and empowerment across the continent.
“AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, driven by advancements in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, offer us a compelling solution to a lot of these deeply entrenched problems. Their ability to understand, process, and generate human-like text and speech makes them ideal for personalised and scalable interactions.”
According to Alaofin, integrating AI-chatbots into customer support in Africa’s financial technology sector can help to close the technology gap, by supporting information sharing in multiple languages, empowering millions of speakers.
“For populations with limited digital literacy or access to sophisticated devices, voice-enabled virtual assistants can be particularly transformative. Users can simply speak their queries in their local language, making financial services and information accessible even to those who cannot read or write,” he added.

While the potential is immense, the successful implementation of AI-powered Chatbots in local African languages is not without its challenges. Alaofin cited data scarcity for low-resource languages, the lack of computational infrastructure, as well as ethical considerations and bias, amongst others as notable challenges that could hinder the equitable implementation of this technology.
He however noted that in spite of these challenges, the trajectory of AI-powered Chatbots in Africa is overwhelmingly positive. “With the integration of AI-powered chatbots into the financial technology sector, we will see increased financial inclusion, as barriers of language, literacy and access get broken down. The growth of localised AI solutions will spur innovation within Africa’s tech sector, creating new jobs, fostering local talent, and driving economic development.”
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