Platform Urbanism in Cape Town: Legacy Capital Seeking New Frontiers

Abstract

This paper explores the geography of capital in Cape Town, focussing on the role of fintech and digital technology platforms. Fintech involves both the technological innovations in old, opaque financial services of credit and insurance as well as new experimentation through mobile money, online payments and cryptocurrency, leading to a proliferation of digital platforms and new corollaries of platform urbanism. One of the dominant narratives associated with Fintech innovations is its disruptive effect on old financial architectures that have been historically been challenging to penetrate, particularly by young people. The disruption is often attributed to the large number of ‘unbanked’ people on the African continent leading to a ‘development’ narrative of financial inclusion across income groups. This paper explores the context of fintech and digital mobility platforms in Cape Town, both separately and at their intersection. In this paper I explore these novel extensions in Cape Town - the fintech capital of the continent. Firstly, I discuss the fintech boom through venture capital in Africa and consider its celebration as well as its academic critiques. I then explore fintech in the Cape Town context through a case that counters the dominant narratives of high-risk, high value, speculative returns. I also show how both old banking systems and retail sector align and use motorcycled platformed mobility and its riders – the (often young) men who do this kind of labour. The case of Cape Town highlights the presence of local innovation, challenging the predictions made in alternative narratives that predominantly focus on global companies entering the African continent. Consequently, this analysis contributes to more nuanced discussions regarding data, risk, and labour within emerging economies, offering valuable insights into these complex arrangements.