“Smartphones have effectively become economic infrastructure,” says Deon Verster, country manager for PayJoy South Africa. According to GSMA research, overall mobile penetration in South Africa exceeds 95%, but smartphone ownership tells a very different story. Statista forecasts that the number of smartphone users in South Africa will grow from 18.65 million users in 2026 to an estimated 25.8 million users by 2029. PayJoy, which is a global company focused on expanding smartphone access across emerging markets, has seen this shift clearly in South Africa. The gap between basic phone use and smartphone access remains one of the most significant barriers to digital inclusion in South Africa, but also represents a huge opportunity.