A Bird’s Eye View of Near Field Communication Technology: Applications, Global Adoption, and Impact in Africa

Owing to the ease and efficiency of contactless communication between intelligent devices, near-field communication (NFC), a wireless communication technology, is attracting the attention of customers. In today’s world, NFC is useful for mobile payment apps, electronic ticketing, access control, and authorization. Despite the widespread adoption of NFC technology, quite little is known about how to analyze its adoption with typical technology acceptance methods. Furthermore, there is an insufficient adoption of NFC technology in Africa. Therefore, this study provides a bird's-eye view of NFC technology, encompassing both the worldwide adoption models and the African market ecology. We conclude that this technology offers significant advantages over the status quo in areas such as mobile payment systems, public transit, event tickets, and medical care applications. Due to the significant smartphone penetration in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, we select these nations to model the impact and downsides of adopting NFC in sub-Saharan Africa. Reports from the facts presented in this article about smartphone penetration rate, industrial acceptance, etc., show that NFC is finding useful applications on the African continent and has the potential to revolutionize various sectors of the African economy. The time is right for NFC to take off in Africa for mobile payments and other useful applications. Interestingly, the scope of this assessment extends beyond just the influence of NFC technology in Africa; it will also be useful to researchers, industry experts, product manufacturers, and NFC investors everywhere across the globe.