RMIT Centre for African Engagement (CAE) PhD Scholarships - The Dynamics of Africa’s Fintech Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

The scholarships provide tuition fees for a period of 3.5 years and a stipend of $35,886 per annum (2025 rate indexed annually)

One (1).

To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, applicants must: 

• meet the minimum requirements for admission to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program at RMIT. Details are available on the How to Apply page. 
• be a citizen of an African country. 

This scholarship is supporting the project titled: "The Dynamics of Africa's Fintech Entrepreneurial Ecosystems", which has specific eligibility requirements.  The ideal candidate for this PhD project will be expected to have master's degree in information systems, management or entrepreneurship with a thesis.

Research qualification (for example, MPhil) or experience (demonstrated in a journal publication).

Successful candidates will be expected to have a background in management, entrepreneurship, or information systems, and a solid foundation in mixed methods research.

17/11/2025

Scholarship applications must include evidence of contact with the proposed senior supervisor.

Please contact please email Professor Alem Molla and Dr Ashenafi Biru and submit the following documents:

• A brief overview of your motivation and suitability for this PhD project.
• A detailed CV including academic achievements and research experience.

Academic certificates and transcripts

Applicants that can demonstrate evidence of contact with the proposed senior supervisor can submit an application via the How to Apply page.

This scholarship will support the project titled: "The Dynamics of Africa's Fintech Entrepreneurial Ecosystems".

To apply, please contact Professor Alem Molla and Dr Ashenafi Biru with the following documents:

• A brief overview of your motivation and suitability for this PhD project
• A detailed CV including academic achievements and research experience
• Academic certificates and transcripts.

African ecosystems have emerged as a growing frontier for FinTech innovation, particularly in mobile money, digital payments, and alternative lending solutions, with countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana driving notable advances. The continent's FinTech sector has been characterised by rapid adoption of mobile technologies, a high proportion of unbanked and underbanked populations, which together create unique opportunities for Fintech start-ups to offer scalable, inclusive, and customer-focused financial services.

The evolving digital economy in Africa provides ample opportunities for FinTech entrepreneurs continue to innovate and enter the market with efficient and customer-centric financial services and products than incumbents. However, despite Africa's leadership in mobile money innovation and a surge in Fintech entrepreneurial activity, the developmental trajectory and systemic dynamics of Africa's FinTech ecosystem remain under-represented in scholarly literature.

The project aims to address this anomaly while examining the tensions surrounding the roles of history, creativity, and adaptability in entrepreneurial ecosystem research. As FinTech entrepreneurs leverage the rise of digital society, shifting consumer behaviours, deregulation, and the proliferation of digital platforms and infrastructure to enter and reshape the financial services landscape, the project draws insights from Fintech, digital entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial eco-system theories. It will apply a combination of computational, qualitative and quantitative methods to provide a comprehensive understanding of ecosystem dynamics.