FiA_2015

EXPLORING
AFRICAN
FINTECH
OKA-HR
www.okahr.co
1

FORWARD
Africa is the second largest continent in the world
with approximately 1.2-billion citizens divided
between 54 countries. As expected for such a large
continent it is a vast area and presents a variety
of cultures, nationalities, and levels of economic
developments. We must therefore be careful not to
make too broad a general about the situation of the
market. This report focuses on FinTech – financial
technology – development on the continent, giving
insight into what is happening on the continent in
the sector.
There has been a lot of attention on FinTech in Africa,
particularly for its mobile financial services and the
huge success of reaching the unbanked. However,
we felt that so far no publication has put together
elements relating to legislation, possible effects
of FinTech, and those up and coming innovative
businesses within Africa’s FinTech space. Here we
offer some way by which to rectify that position,
collating all these elements in one document. The
sector is very dynamic and this document does not
claim to cover everything happening in the field.
However, we are certain that you will learn
something from the extensive research which is
presented. For those of you new to FinTech in Africa
this will provide an excellent introduction which
gives information on some of the ‘basics’. Whilst
for those more experienced in Africa’s FinTech
efforts can have a document to refer to which puts
together what you might already know with some
added depth, particular on the legislative side which
has, to our knowledge, not been as extensively
collated as we have presented here.
This report is intended for anybody invested in
FinTech and its development. Whether journalists,
government officials – in and outside Africa, nongovernment
organisations, or charities. We hope
that you gain something from this report and that it
contributes positively to your knowledge.
Yinka Opaneye
CEO OKA-HR
www.okahr.co
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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... 4
DEFINITIONS..................................................................................................................................6
PART 1: COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS.......................................................................................................9
ESTABLISHED PLAYERS (SANGK).................................................................................................9
South Africa......................................................................................................................10
Nigeria..............................................................................................................................12
Ghana............................................................................................................................... 14
Kenya................................................................................................................................16
RISING STARS............................................................................................................................18
Ethiopia (Addis Ababa).....................................................................................................18
Egypt (Cairo)....................................................................................................................19
Angola (Luanda)..............................................................................................................19
PART 2: ACROSS THE CONTINENT............................................................................................... 23
FINTECH (MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES) REGULATIONS........................................................ 23
Northern Africa...............................................................................................................24
Eastern Africa.................................................................................................................25
Southern Africa...............................................................................................................28
Western Africa................................................................................................................29
MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES COLLABORATIONS.................................................................. 32
Southern and Eastern Africa......................................................................................... 32
Northern and Western Africa........................................................................................ 33
PART 3: DERIVATIVES AND DRIVERS............................................................................................... 36
SECONDARY EFFECTS OF FINTECH....................................................................................... 36
HIGHLIGHTED START-UP ENABLERS.........................................................................................43
Incubators.......................................................................................................................43
Accelerators................................................................................................................... 44
Co-working spaces........................................................................................................ 44
Innovation Centres.........................................................................................................45
TABLES AND DIAGRAMS:
• MFS Potential – Formally banked and mobile penetration rates..........................21-22
• Enabling Environment – Mapping the legislative landscape......................................31
• Percentage and geographical spread of MFS deals over time............................... 35
• Financial Deepening through M-Pesa.....................................................................40-43
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Within this group of countries there exists a
considerable range in terms of financial inclusion.
From the more financially included countries such as
Mauritius and South Africa with 82 and 75 percent of
their respective populations holding bank accounts;
to less financially inclusive economies like Niger and
Guinea where only 7 percent hold bank accounts.
Across the entire continent, the median percentage
of bank account holders stands at 23 percent. The
median number of bank branches to every 100,000
people across the continent is also low at 4.75.
However, this population does have a significantly
higher percentage of people with access to mobile
phones. Though subscription penetration rates
again vary from 7 to 813 percent (Eritrea and
Comoros respectively), the median penetration
rate is 81 percent. It means individuals are more
than three times as likely to possess mobile phones
as they are to hold a bank account. It is this simple
concept which presents an opportunity for financial
inclusion through FinTech – Mobile Financial Services
(MFS) specifically.
Part 1 – Country Highlights: Established Players
and Rising Stars
We selected four countries with the most influence,
potential, and economic stability from across
Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya
(SANGK). Each is given an in-depth analysis of
their Information, Communication and Technology
(ICT) and Finance sectors. All four countries have
well-developed start-up ecosystems to nurture
the next generation of FinTech firms. The reasons
each gives for further ICT investment differs
slightly. Nigeria has focussed more on its ICT
and telecommunications industry in an attempt
to diversify its economy away from oil revenue.
Ghana has introduced strategic visions to greater
incorporate ICT into education, and Kenya hopes
to leverage the ICT sector to develop itself into a
“middle income” country.
The common element in all four established
players is their acute skills shortage particularly
in the field of ICT. Though all four governments
understand this fact and have put strategies in
place to remedy the shortage, most have attained
moderate to poor success in tackling this issue. For
most companies, particularly multinational firms,
it has resulted in very well-developed internal
learning programmes. It has also forced startups
to compete more vigorously for ICT skilled
employees.
Our three rising stars were chosen for various
reasons:
a) Ethiopia (Addis Ababa): Following years of stability,
the country has been achieving steady rates of
growth. It also has a large population of over
90-million and growing; many of whom remain
unbanked and potential MFS users.
b) Egypt (Cairo): The city is a developed and
well-respected ecosystem particularly for
crowdfunding. However, there is a lot of potential
for MFS as there still remains a large unbanked
population. Moreover, its geographical position
gives it access to the Middle East, North Africa,
and Europe.
c) Angola (Luanda): The country has the capabilities
of becoming a telecommunications hub on the
continent and is set to have over a fifth of its
population using 4G by 2020. Additionally its
financial sector, like the rest of the economy, is
growing rapidly.
Part 2 – Across the Continent: Legislative
Frameworks and Collaborations
There are three structures (business models)
which have been used to deploy MFS: bankbased,
non-bank based, and (independent)
payment provider based. Most countries have
permitted one or two business models; Nigeria
is the only country studied which permits three
models for MFS deployment. The regulation of
these MFSs has been split between Central Banks
and Telecommunication ministry departments.
Some countries such as Tanzania have
created specific committees to coordinate the
communication between the two regulators. The
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level of success in coordination (with or without
a designated committee) varies considerably.
Some countries (e.g. Tanzania) are rumoured
to have exceptional inter-regulatory relations,
whilst others (e.g. Zimbabwe) are rumoured to
have more strained relationships.
Rather than amend Central Banking law, all
countries analysed have put in place regulations
and guidelines concerning e-money and MFSs. Some
governments adopted a “test and learn” approach
before developing these regulations. Examples of
countries taking this approach include: Kenya and
Uganda. They have developed guidelines which
mandated the business environment following its
maturity. Whilst other nations developed guidelines
and regulations whilst their local MFS sectors were
still nascent. Countries falling into this category
include Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Irrespective of the guidelines and regulations
adopted, all have required, to varying degrees,
collaborations between mobile network operators
(MNOs) and financial institutions. Within the
Eastern and Southern parts of Africa: Vodafone
(through a large stake in Safaricom – owner of
M-Pesa) and Airtel prove dominant. However,
Safaricom (M-Pesa) is facing strong challenge
from Equity Bank’s offering through Equitel
(its telecommunications subsidiary). In the
Northern and Western parts Orange is dominant,
particularly in the French speaking nations like
Tunisia, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
There are four technology firms which dominate
Northern and Western African collaborations:
Mahindra Comviva, Tagiattitude, Pyro Mobile
Money, and Verifone. These four technology
companies are responsible for supporting 40
percent of all the MFSs operating in these regions.
This has mainly been as a result of the longstanding
relationships these firms have built with
MNOs. When entering new markets MNOs have
tended to replicate their operations and bring
their existing technology partners along with them.
Part 3 – Derivatives and Drivers: Secondary
Effects and Start-up Enablers
This chapter concentrates on the secondary
effects of FinTech and its supporting mechanisms
(incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces)
across the continent. The range of possible
effects tested varies from the highly theoretical
and economic, to the behavioural changes arising
due to the growth of MFS and FinTech as a whole.
Preliminary studies (as the service is under
10-years old) demonstrate that MFS operations do
not have an effect on inflation. This is contrary
to the common economic maxim that increased
money volatility, which MFS causes, results in higher
inflation.
Though MFS has been marketed as leading to
financial inclusion, some have questioned its
ability to contribute to this dimension. They have
suggested that these products only appear
to attract those already banked populations.
Evidence indicates that though early adopters are
generally urban, more educated, and wealthier; as
time progresses more rural, uneducated and less
financially solvent populations adopt the products
too. There is also strong potential for MFS to be
used more frequently in micro-finance institutions,
conditional and non-conditional cash transfers,
government payments and more sophisticated
financial products.
We also provide a list of some the many accelerator
and incubator programmes which exist in
Africa. Some of the well-known programmes are
internationally run such as Barclays Tech Lab
(South Africa) or Startupbootcamp (South Africa
and Kenya). However, there are many programmes
which have been locally developed and are proving
hugely successful. This is particularly the case in
Northern Africa with Tahir2, Flat6Labs, and Plug
and Play (all based in Egypt). Some other influential
incubators and accelerators are MEST, iSpace and
Impact Hub Accra (Ghana); iHub (Kenya), xHub
Innovation Society and iceaddis (Ethiopia).
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DEFINITIONS
Accelerator (programme)
These are fixed-term, cyclical programmes which
include mentorship, training aspects, and usually
culminating in a presentation or pitch event/ demo day.
Agent
Any third party acting on behalf of a bank or other
financial services provider (including an e—money
issuer or distributor) to deal directly with customers.
The term ‘agent’ is commonly used even if the
commonly used principle-agent relationship does not
exist under the law of the country in question.
Anti-money laundering / Combating the financing
of terrorism (AML/CFT)
A set of rules, typically issued by central banks, that
attempt to prevent and detect the use of financial
services for money laundering or to finance
terrorism. The global standard-setter for AML/CFT
rules in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Bank-based model
A mobile financial services business model (bank-led
or nonbank-led) in which:
i) The customers has a contractual relationship with
the bank and,
ii) The bank is licensed or otherwise permitted by the
regulator to provide the financial services
Bank-led model
A mobile financial service business (bank-based or
non-bank based) in which the bank is the primary
driver of the product or service, typically taking the
lead in marketing, branding, and managing customer
relations.
Business-to-Government (B2G)
Business to government payment e.g. the payment of
taxes or other government fees.
Business-to-Person (B2P)
Business to person payment e.g. salary payments
Branchless Banking
Delivery of financial services outside conventional
bank branches. Banking beyond branches uses
agents or other third party intermediaries as the
primary point of contact with customers and relies
on technologies such as card-reading point-of-sale
(POS) terminals.
Conditional Cash Transfer (also Non-conditional
cash transfers)
Programmes aimed at reducing poverty by providing
incentives (such as money or vouchers) conditional
on the recipients’ actions. Non-conditional cash
transfers are not dependent on the recipients’
actions.
Crowdfunding
The process of raising capital for a project or venture
through a collection of (typically public) donors.
E-Money
A type of monetary value electronically recorded
and generally understood to have the following
attributes:
i) Issued upon receipt of funds in an amount no
lesser in value than the value of the e-money
issued;
ii) Stored on electronic device (e.g. a chip, prepaid
card, mobile phone, or computer);
iii) Accepted as a means of payment by parties other
than the issuer; and
iv) Convertible into cash
E-Money Issuer
The entity that initially issues e-money against receipt
of funds. Some countries only permit banks to issue
e-money (see Bank-based model) whereas other
countries permit non-banks to issue e-money (see
non-bank based model).
E-Money Account
An e-money holder’s account that is held with the
e-money issuer. In some jurisdiction, e-money
accounts may resemble conventional bank
accounts, but are treated differently under the
regulatory framework because they are used for
different purposes (for example, as a surrogate
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for cash or a stored value that is used to facilitate
transactional services).
Float // e-float
The total outstanding amount of e-money maintained
on the premises by an e-money issuer.
Formal financial services (formally banked)
Financial services offered by regulated institutions
as opposed to informal financial services, which are
unregulated. Some examples of regulated institutions
include banks, remittance services providers,
microfinance institutions and MNOs.
Financial deepening
The development of a financial services system
facilitating the provision of a range of financial assets
in the economy.
Financial inclusion
The delivery of formal financial services at an
affordable cost to all populations.
FinTech
The use of technology to improve the efficiency of the
financial services sector. It covers both:
a) Traditional FinTech: Represents those larger, wellknown
firms providing supportive data and services
for ‘brick and mortar’ financial services firms.
b) Emergent/ Disruptive FinTech: Smaller businesses
and start-ups relying more on big data analysis,
mobile and internet technologies.
Government-to-Person (G2P)
Government to person payment e.g. to include the
receipt of government benefits and salary payments.
Incubator (programme)
These are development programmes for start-ups.
They are generally more flexible and make no requests
for equity in the firm, unlike accelerator programmes
(See above). These programmes often offer
management training, consulting, and office space too.
Informal financial services
Financial services offered by unregulated entities.
Examples of informal financial services are susu
collection in Ghana, loan shark lending, and informal
saving groups.
Interoperability
The ability of users of different mobile money
services to transact directly with each other.
Know Your Customer (KYC)
Rules related to AML/CML which requires providers to
carry out measures to identify a customer.
Mobile Banking (m-banking)
A service allowing customers to access their bank
accounts via a mobile phone; sometimes, they are
also able to initiate transactions. It is a sub-set of
mobile financial services (See below).
Mobile Financial Services (MFS) // Mobile Money
A service with which the mobile phone is used to
access a variety of financial services from banking to
insurance, loans and savings.
Mobile money transfer // Person-to-person
(P2P)
A payment of value that is made from a mobile wallet,
accrues to a mobile wallet, and/ or is initiated using a
mobile phone.
Mobile payment (m-payment)
Sometimes, the term payment is used to describe only
transfers to pay for goods and services, either at the
point-of-sale (retail) or remotely (bill payments).
Mobile Network Operator (MNO)
A company that has a government-issued license
to provide telecommunications services through
mobile devices.
Mobile wallet
A financial account that is primarily accessed using a
mobile phone.
Non-bank based model
A mobile financial services business model (bank-led
or non-bank led) in which:
i) The customer has a contractual relationship with a
non-bank financial services provider and,
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ii) The non-bank is licensed or otherwise permitted by
the regulator to provide the financial service(s).
Non-bank led model
A mobile financial services business model (bankbased
or non-bank-based) in which the non-bank is
the primary driver of the product or service, typically
taking the lead in marketing, branding, and managing
the customer relationship.
Person-to-Government (P2G)
Person to government payments e.g. payment of
taxes, fees, fines or for services.
Payment Service Provider
An entity providing services that enable funds to be
deposited into an account and withdrawn from an
account; payment transactions (transfer of funds
between, into or from accounts); issuance and/ or
acquisition of payment instruments that enable the
user to transfer funds (e.g. checks, e-money, credit
cards and debit cards); and money remittances and
other services central to the transfer of money.
Point-of-Service (POS)
A retail location where payments are made for goods
or services.
Third Party Provider
Agents and other acting on behalf of a mobile
financial service provider, whether pursuant to a
services agreement, joint venture agreement, or
other contractual arrangement.
Unbanked
Potential customers, usually the very poor, who do
not have a bank account or a transaction account at
a formal financial institution.
Under-banked
Customers who may have access to a basic
transaction account offered by a formal financial
institution, but still have financial needs that are
unmet or not appropriately met. For example, they
may not be able to send money safely or affordably.
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PART 1:
COUNTRY
HIGHLIGHTS
Established Players
and Rising Stars
ESTABLISHED
PLAYERS
(SANGK)
In this section we consider the four
established players on the continent –
South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya
(SANGK). The first part of the analysis is a
summary of their governments’ stance on
the Information and Computing Technology
(ICT) and Financial sectors. It is an overview
of how the government aims to harness the
power of these two sectors to achieve its
wider development goals.
In the second part, the training, skills
development initiatives and human resource
environment is explored. It provides insight
not only from a governmental viewpoint,
but also from a business one too.
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South Africa
Ownership 4
Population: 54 million 1
Adult population over 15 years old
(% from MRV figures) 2 : 69.4
Nominal GDP/ Growth (2014) 3 : 349,817; 1.5
Smartphone 34
Non-smart
mobile phone 55
No phone 10
Percentage of Formally Banked 2014 3 : 69
SUMMARY
In the 2015 budget speech the South African Minister of
Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, highlighted the government’s
immediate priorities 5 . The nine-point plan outlined the
government’s strategy for building a sustainable and
innovative economy. Two of the points focused on
unlocking small business potential and encouraging
private investment in dynamic sectors. The end vision
was to ensure greater inclusion of the population
who currently remain economically inactive.
South Africa was ranked second overall in the 2015
Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project
(FDIP) Report and Scorecard 6 . The report evaluated
21 developing countries against a number of
criteria relevant to financial inclusion one of which
includes mobile capacity. It ranked first for country
commitment, adoption of traditional and digital
financial services, and regulatory environment.
Innovation is not new to financial services in South
Africa; the country was the first in the world to
set up a Faster Payments system, and four of
the five major banks incorporate a banking app
(bar Capitec). While these banks have developed
some great technology solutions, there’s a lack of
interoperability between banks.
Telecommunications giants, Vodacom and MTN, have
taken advantage of traditional banking’s weakness
by dominating MFS. They have introduced financial
services to the quarter of the population that
remains unbanked; providing real-time, person-toperson
(P2P) payment capabilities via their respective
offerings, M-Pesa and Mobile Money.
On the ground
The startup culture in the country’s FinTech scene
is thriving and in 2015 three South African FinTech
start-ups made the majority of finalists at the SWIFT
Innotribe regional showcase in Cape Town, moving
on to represent the continent with two other African
start-ups at the international showcase.
The start-ups are YueDiligence, 2Quins, and ZAQ
Finance. YueDiligence is a due diligence tool for
entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers
to assess deal readiness. 2Quins is a financial
information tool that assists in meeting banks’
operational and regulatory reporting requirements
more efficiently; and ZAQ Finance is a debt reduction,
savings, and low-cost credit products service for lowincome
Africans to become more financially secure.
Networking organisations, incubators, accelerators,
and major events have been emerging since the turn
of the century to nurture and support technology
entrepreneurs.
Some national initiatives include mLab Southern
Africa, a vertical accelerator focused on mobile
innovation and start-ups. It is backed by the World
Bank, the Department of Science and Technology,
among others. Tech4Africa acts as one of Africa’s
biggest web, mobile and emerging technology
conferences and annually hosts the Ignite startup
competition which gives African start-ups exposure to
vital industry players. Another initiative, Entrepreneur
Traction, bridges the gap between potential young
technology entrepreneurs and influential CEOs and
venture capitalists.
Cape Town - The Cape IT Initiative (CiTi) is a nonprofit
organisation infusing the Western Cape’s
technology sector and tech-enabled industries
like financial services, retail and government. The
Bandwidth Barn (forming part of CiTi), operating
since 2000, is regarded as one of the leading ICT
incubators in the world. They’ve set up a Bitcoin hub
as well as a Virtual Reality community — both firsts in
South Africa – and this year (2015) they also unveiled
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Barn Khayelitsha — a co-working support hub for
entrepreneurs in the area.
Barclays Africa also launched its Tech Lab Africa
accelerator programme in Cape Town this year.
It helps connect a global network of start-ups,
corporate firms, and innovators. The venture aims
to accelerate South Africa’s FinTech and digital health
industry by helping scale innovative solutions.
Johannesburg – In 2015, AlphaCode launched
in Sandton as the club for ‘next-generation
entrepreneurs in South Africa’s financial services
industry’. It facilitates networking, co-working, and
mentorship. JoziHub is an incubator backed by
Omidyar and Google, and is aimed at connecting
potential entrepreneurs and developers with critical
resources. This year, Standard Bank launched its
Standard Bank Incubator Programme to create
and develop entrepreneurs in South Africa, and is
accompanied by the incubator co-working space in
Rosebank.
HR/ PEOPLE ASPECTS
According to the 2014 skills trend survey by the
Witwatersrand University’s Joburg Centre for
Software Engineering (JCSE) on South Africa’s ICT
sector, South Africa lacks critical skills and is falling
behind countries that place greater emphasis on
the contribution of technology to economic growth 7 .
Countries like Kenya (who ranked first in the FDIP
report), Nigeria, and Egypt.
Mathematics Pass Rates: 2013/2014
2014 2015
Only 10% of student who
enter the basic education
achieve a pass in math or
science subjects.
Number of those who
passed maths (achieving
30 % or more) dropped
from 59.1 to 53.5 per cent.
New and emerging technologies are creating a
strong demand for certain skill sets; and South Africa
is lagging behind due to a deficit in the number of
graduates in the science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) fields. Roughly only 10 percent
of students who enter the basic education system
achieve a pass in math or science subjects. The
number of matric learners who passed mathematics
in 2014 – attaining above 30 percent – dropped to
53.5 percent from 59.1 percent in 2013. The pass rate
for physical science dropped nearly six percentage
points in the same period.
Telkom Business reported on their blog in April
that it estimated between 30,000 to 70,000 skilled IT
workers needed to enter the system in South Africa
to solve the national IT skills challenge 8 . Professor
Barry Dwolatzky, director of the JCSE, says digital
technology is the route to absorb some of the youth
unemployment in the country, which is currently twoand-half
times that of adult unemployment. He warns
that South Africa has to create future generations of
tech savvy youth who can ‘use, adapt, and improve
on the technology of the day’. “We are at risk of
losing an entire generation if vital steps are not
taken,” he said, adding that South Africa will not be
able to achieve its National Development Plan without
the contribution of an effective ICT sector.
One study highlighted some of the problems
disadvantaged areas in South Africa have in
developing students’ ICT capabilities 9 . Among the
issues identified include the poor computer to student
ratio, difficulty in access to the internet, and a lack of
use of ICT involvement in schools’ general curricula.
MICT (Media, Information and Communication
Technologies) Sector Education and Training Authority
(SETA) is the body responsible for skills development
in sectors including IT and telecommunications. MICT
SETA have drafted a list of scarce and critical skills.
They have identified these in collaboration with
industry stakeholders – that includes vendor-specific
technical skills sets covering Oracle, Cisco, SAP, and
Microsoft – and used the research to develop the
Sector Skills Plan.
The plan is aimed at partnering with companies
within the MICT sector to address these critical skills
by training employees and unemployed candidates.
The Plan indicated a demand for 6,281 potential
vacancies in MICT by March 2014 with an emphasis on
qualifications of the necessary market-level required
by IT sub-sectors. In its most recent report published
in 2015, the MICT SETA noted that it had achieved
or even exceeded all its planned targets. These
overachievements were primarily due to increased
stakeholder participation from businesses and
educational establishments.
11

Nigeria
Ownership 12
Population: 177.5 million 10
Adult population over 15 years old
(% from MRV figures): 54.4
Nominal GDP/ Growth (2014): 568,508; 6.3
Smartphone 27
Non-smart
mobile phone 62
No phone 11
Percentage of Formally Banked 11 : 44
SUMMARY
To reduce its dependency on oil revenues the
Nigerian government put in place a 10-year
strategy, announced in 2012, to diversify its
economy. Already one of its growth areas, the
government focussed on improving the efficiency
of its finance sector, which between 2009 and 2013,
doubled in the percentage share it accounted for
in government revenue 13 .
Seizing this opportunity, in October 2012, the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced its
intentions – through the Financial Inclusion
strategy – to increase financial access to 70 percent
of the population in areas concerning remittances,
savings, pension and insurance.
Under its “cash-lite society” initiative originally piloted
in Lagos, it has sought to reduce the high reliance on
cash payment within the country. The initiative hopes
to modernise the payment system and improve the
effectiveness of monetary policy. The scheme was
rolled out to another six centres in 2013, accounting for
nearly 90 percent of cash centres in the country. CBN
has also issued regulations concerning MFS and has
so far issued 20 licences to firms offering the service.
The government has demonstrated its equal level
of commitment to its ICT sector. The telecoms
market in Nigeria is open, highly competitive and
in 2014 contributed 8.34 percent to Nigeria’s total
GDP 14 . In June 2012, the Ministry of Communication
Technology released its National Information
and Communication policy intended to promote
universal access to ICT and make the sector more
attractive for businesses and entrepreneurs. This
multi-layered policy included efforts to enhance ICT
skills in schools, streamline regulation and taxation
within the sector, and bring uniformity in how ICT
was used in government ministries.
Its success in this area was recognised in the 2013 UN
Public Service Awards (Category 4: Promoting Wholeof-Government
in the Information Age) where Nigeria
took first place. Prior to that in 2011, Nigeria had also
received the support of the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), in promoting ‘Village Phone’ – a
concept extending telecommunication services to
rural areas.
On the ground
This has been supported by a number of measures
within the country’s ecosystem. The Federal Ministry
of Communications Technology (FMCT), through
its Nigeria Federal Open Data Initiative, hopes to
stimulate innovation and economic growth by opening
government data. As well as the government’s push
for a cash-lite society and ICT investment, there is
also a high level of entrepreneurial culture which
exists in Nigeria. Two areas are garnering significant
attention: e-commerce and FinTech (specifically MFS).
Within the e-commerce space, the leaders are
Konga and Jumia who have received backing of
$40million and $150 million respectively to expend their
operations in the country. Of the many FinTech players
providing MFSs, Fortis Mobile Money is one of the
most well-known and is still growing. Henry Nwawuba,
Fortis Mobile’s Managing Director, said the company
planned to deploy an additional 50,000 agents across
the country. This is after the initial success recorded
in Lagos where it has 950,000 users due primarily to its
partnership with Nigeria’s largest telecom network,
MTN Nigeria.
Though there are pockets of innovative centres
around the country such as Wennovation Hub (which
coaches and mentors start-up firms) in Ibadan; the
12

majority of activity occurs in Lagos, the country’s
former capital.
Lagos – Most notable among them is ccHUB: a
community, open living lab and pre-incubation
centre: essentially facilitating connections in the city;
and Spark (an office space and accelerator hybrid)
which is supporting firms. Of the better recognised
growing firms are Vogue Pay and PagaTech – both
payment processing providers.
Since VoguePay’s launch in 2012, it has processed
over 950,000 transactions worth over N900 million
($4.5 million) in Lagos alone. PagaTech first came
to international promin ence when it attracted the
attention of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. To date
the firm has over 3 million users across the country,
making it the undisputed leader among the payment
provider service led MFS firms. Other MFS firms
making headway in Lagos are E-transact with 250,000
users, PayCom with 210,000 and Mkudi Mimo slightly
behind on 190,000 users.
users
Mobile Money Subscriber Numbers
(Nigeria)
3 m
250,000
210,000
190,000
PagaTech E-Transact PayCom Mkudi Mimo
HR/ PEOPLE ASPECTS
There have been several changes in the human
resource capabilities of Nigeria’s ICT and
banking sectors. The country’s banking industry
recapitalisation policy implemented in 2004/2005
resulted in a spate of organisational reforms. The
policy forced several banks to enter into merger
and acquisition deals resulting in retraining for
new positions, redundancies and organisational
restructuring programmes. According to one
research paper 15 the policy has transformed the
Nigerian banking sector into slave banks: adopting
more authoritative approaches through harsher
human resources (HR) policies.
As a result of these changes HR employees were
also forced to “align their HR strategy and practices
with the business strategy of the banks”. This was
essentially a move away from the traditional routine
processes many HR employees had previously
undertaken, known as personnel administration.
Technology firms such as Cisco and Oracle have also
mentioned the difficulty in recruiting for ICT skilled
individuals in the Nigerian banking sector 16 . In a
recent roundtable summit, the country manager of
Oracle, Adebayo Sanni, among other top executives
from other IT firms, stated that there is urgent need
to address the IT skills gap in the country, particularly
in the banking sector.
To further validate this fact, a survey by the
Convention on Business Integrity shows that 39
percent of firms in the country are struggling to
recruit workers into specialised IT positions, and they
believe that this shortage of ICT experts will persist
for the next three years (until 2018/2019). Cisco also
laments this dearth in ICT skills in Nigerian banking
sectors and other industries. They estimate that
30,000 to 70,000 skilled IT positions are required
annually, and question the country’s ability to recruit
for these roles 17 .
Moreover, due to the banking sector’s intense
competition many firms have implemented radical
upgrades to their IT technologies. This has prompted
significant staff training programmes to update the
organisation’s understanding of these new systems.
It has placed greater pressure on these firms’
learning and development functions. One paper 18
posited that in line with technological advancement
there is a need for HR capacity development in the
Nigerian banking sector.
13

Ghana
Ownership 21 Smartphone 14
Population: 26.7 million 19
Adult population over 15 years old
(% from MRV figures): 59.7
Non-smart
mobile phone
69
Nominal GDP/ Growth (2014): 38,648; 4.2
No phone 17
Percentage of Formally Banked 20 : 35
SUMMARY
In October 2015, the Ministry of Education in Ghana
held a workshop to finalise its framework on how best
to introduce and promote ICT into Ghana’s education
system. The event led to the finalisation of the
policy document needed to actualise the country’s
ambitions. In recent years the government in an
attempt to improve ICT in the country has distributed
over 60,000 laptops to school students. It has also
given over 50,000 teachers training on ICT as part of
its Better Ghana ICT Agenda 22 .
Within finances specifically, Ghana has recently
completed the implementation of the Ghana
Integrated Financial Management Information
System (GIFMIS) designed to modernise its budgeting
and public expenditure system; and improve the
efficiency of its revenue collection. The construction
of GIFMIS coincided with the eGhana project which
aimed to improve citizen access to information and
transaction capabilities 23 . The government (via the
Bank of Ghana – BOG) has aims to increase financial
inclusion and is doing this through MFS. Following talks
with financial services and telecommunication firms
it amended MFS regulations making the system less
“cumbersome” 24 .
In March 2014, The BOG also released its National
Payment Strategy – Strategic Payment Roadmap for
Ghana. Of its many initiatives was the development
of a Ghanaian Payments Council to address and
ensure ‘buy-in’ from the various stakeholders
involved in payment services. The Strategy also
included plans to develop ‘ePayment and eMoney
regulations’ by emulating the legislative practices
in Australia and India for the former, and UK for
the latter. Additionally it outlined the government’s
plans to ensure all employees in the country are
paid electronically by 2020.
On the ground
According to the National Communications Authority
(NCA) of Ghana, the number of mobile phone users
increased from 28.8 million in April 2014 to over 32.3
million in August 2015 25 . This figure shows mobile
phone ownership outnumbers Ghana’s population of
26.7 million by a ratio of 1:1.2.
The number of MFS users has increased rapidly
in recent years after a slow start. It has helped
improve access to financial inclusion by 16 percent
between 2010 and 2014 26 . The industry is led by MTN
Mobile Money, followed by Tigo with Tigo Cash, and
thirdly Airtel’s offering Airtel Money. Since it debuted
in 2009, MTN Mobile Money – the market leader – has
gained a subscriber base of 4.8 million with monthly
transaction volumes of over GHS 18.5 million ($4.6
million) per month.
MTN Mobile Money (Ghana)
4.8 million
Subscriber Base
18.5 million ($4.6 million)
per month
Transaction volumes
Besides the telecommunication companies operating
MFS, other non-bank and non-MNO companies also
14

un cashless payment systems in Ghana. ExpressPay
is operated Expresspay Ghana Limited, while MPower
Payments and Slydepay are operated by SMSGH and
Dreamoval Limited respectively. These payment
provider services allow users to load funds from
their bank accounts or preferred electronic wallet
onto their account, enabling them to shop online,
transfer funds or receive funds from anyone –
locally or internationally.
There are also several hubs and supportive
networks within the ecosystem of Ghana. One notable
organisation is mFriday, a non-profit mobile web lab.
In late 2012, the group collaborated with Vodafone
Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &
Technology (KNUST) to develop TechHub, billed as the
foremost mobile and web laboratory in Ghana. It is
based in Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti; though most
of Ghana’s technology ecosystem is based in Accra,
the capital of Ghana.
Accra – The city is host to Meltwater Entrepreneurial
School of Technology (MEST) an incubator programme
providing training and mentoring for technologybased
start-ups in the West African region. One of
their alumni includes Beam; a firm assisting overseas
based Ghanaians make both bill and gift payments for
relatives and friends still in the country.
Other notable programmes include iSpace Accra and
Impact Hub Accra both supporting new technology
talent. These are joined by the Ghana-India Kofi
Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) a
joint project between the Indian and Ghanaian
government to stimulate the growth of the ICT
sector. The government also launched an ambitious
HOPE City project, to be based just outside of Accra.
The project, estimated at £6.6 million ($9.8 million) will
serve as an IT hub and architectural landmark; and is
set to become the tallest building in Africa 27 .
HR/ PEOPLE ASPECTS
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic
Communication (GIFEC) is tasked with the provision
of ICT, internet connectivity and infrastructure on
behalf of the Ministry of Communication. Of its many
projects is the training of citizens on ICT. The training
is delivered through their nationwide network of
Community Information Centres (CICs). However,
these sessions only cover the basics rather than
the more advance ICT skills needed in the FinTech
sector. Nevertheless these basic desktop and
internet related training models provide the much
needed ICT skills in the country.
According to the Ministry of Communication, since
2010 300 CICs have been built and supplied with over
2,100 computers. Though only 56 percent of these
CICs are equipped with the internet, they supplement
the low rate of internet subscription in Ghana. The
most recent (2013) statistics released by the Ministry
of Communications shows that less than 10 percent
of Ghanaians are internet subscribers. The level of
internet connectivity in schools is relatively high at 69
percent, but recent studies have still evaluated the
level of connectivity, schools’ ICT laboratories and
even ICT teachers as “inadequate” 28 .
Beyond the ICT skills gap, there is also a shortage
of adequate graduates needed to fulfil the roles in
the FinTech sector. It is a view expressed by many in
government 29 , tertiary education 30 , and those within
the business sector. Many Ghanaian entrepreneurs
have themselves expressed a lack of confidence in
their business acumen, with only 14 percent believing
they possess the skills necessary to manage a firm 31 .
As a result many firms choose in-house training and
refresher courses, but face the high possibility of
flight risk and competition from the banking and
public sectors.
This skills gap is clearly understood and there have
been several initiatives and projects supported by
the World Bank to address it. In 2006, it approved
the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Project led
by the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry. The
project, recently completed in 2015, met its objective
to improve the employability of Ghanaian citizens.
The AITI-KACE, noted above, also addresses some
of these skills gaps by offering courses to improve
both ICT and management skills.
15

Kenya
Ownership 34 Smartphone 15
Population: 44.9 million 32
Adult population over 15 years old
(% from MRV figures): 57
Non-smart
mobile phone
67
Nominal GDP/ Growth (2014): 60,937; 5.3
No phone 18
Percentage of Formally Banked 33 : 55
SUMMARY
Government
Kenya’s main strategic plan is Kenya Vision 2030
which aims to transform the state into a “middle
income country providing a high quality of life” for its
citizens. The plan outlines a structure consisting of
three pillars, from which eight key foundations exist.
Among these foundations is science, technology and
innovation (STI).
One of its many flagship projects is the creation of
the Konza Technology City (KTC), a technology hub
and economic driver for businesses and start-ups.
It is expected to create over 17,000 jobs (projected
realisation, 2018); and to be one of the main
contributors to Kenya Vision 2030’s aim to achieve an
annual growth rate of 10 percent in GDP until 2030.
The project builds on Kenya’s on-going commitment
to strengthen its ICT sector; through The East
African Marine System (TEAMS) and Notational
Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI).
These network systems are intended to make the
country more globally connected 35 ; and improve
Kenya Financial Inclusion Targets:
Bank Deposits and Financial Exclusion
80%
44%
Bank Deposits
85%
70%
Financially Excluded
communication between Nairobi and other key towns
in Kenya respectively. The latter will also aid Kenya
in its communication with their government service
delivery too, facilitating the use of e-government 36 .
Government support for finance “through improved
access and deepening of financial services and
products” also directly speaks to FinTech, and more
specifically MFS. Among its many medium term goals
are to: increase bank deposits (from 44 to 80 percent),
reduce the share of those financially excluded from
85 to 70 percent, and encourage greater use of ICT
in the financial sector 37 .
On the ground
The critical success factor for banks and insurers in
Kenya today is the ability to meet customers at their
point of convenience. There is unquestionably no
other greater point of convenience than the mobile
phone. According to a 2015 report delivered by Sterling
Capital, a local brokerage firm, more than 90 percent
of Kenya’s working population (the key target market
for banks and insurers) owns a mobile phone 38 .
Safaricom has proven the most successful FinTech
firm in Kenya as a result through its MFS, M-Pesa. It
has managed to capitalise on this unbanked, mobileowning
population resulting in its dominance of the
market. In the last four years, the Kenyan Treasury
has received a total of KSh23 billion ($230 million) in
dividends from Safaricom: no other company has
ever come close to this figure in recent history.
The Kenyan Revenue Authority has also received
at least KSh51 billion ($510 million) in taxes from
Safaricom over the past half-decade, making the
telecommunications firm the single largest tax payer
in Kenya’s history eclipsing amounts paid by the
Teachers’ Service Commission – the employer of all
16

public sector teachers, and EABL, the largest brewer
in East Africa 39 .
The apparent maturity of Kenya’s FinTech space
is perhaps best exemplified by the big deals that
have come to characterize the sector. Waze Tele,
a Kenya based FinTech start-up that integrates
mobile payments into commerce, supply chain and
distribution, was acquired by the AFB Group for $1.7
million in May 2015. Another Kenyan firm, globally
recognised is the crowdsourcing platform, Ushahidi,
which is headquartered in one of FinTech’s global
cities, Nairobi.
Nairobi – The city is filled with a vibrant technology
ecosystem made up of incubators and accelerator
programmes. Incubator hubs such as Nairobibased
iHub are creating ever more competent app
developers who can come up with good solutions.
From a base of nothing, Nairobi’s iHub technology
hub has grown to more than 3,000 developers,
designers and entrepreneurs 40 . In addition to
incubators, which are producing the next generation
of start-ups, some start-ups have already come to
market with resounding success. One such startup
is FarmDrive, a unique platform transforming
the way farmers get access to financial services.
FarmDrive provides much more than just financing
to smallholder farmers. It also provides record
keeping and data analysis for its users.
HR/ PEOPLE ASPECTS
The primary body responsible for ICT deployment
within Kenya is the Information and Communication
Authority (ICT Authority). Established in 2013, it sits
within the Ministry of Information Communication and
Technology, and aims to develop Kenya into a regional
ICT hub and globally competitive digital economy. Its
current and first strategic plan, The Kenya National
ICT Masterplan: Towards a Digital Kenya, outlines how
ICT will contribute to Vision 2030.
Within its plan the ICT Authority admits that investment
in skills development, especially in comparison with
that made in ICT infrastructure, has been low and
identifies several problems at tertiary level education.
However, the issue appears to lie earlier in the system
at primary and secondary levels of education too.
Of the participants in a UNICEF study (2013) only a
quarter of 12 – 17 year olds had access to the internet
“Several times a day”. The majority, 42 percent,
had access to the internet 2 – 3 times a week 41 . Data
for primary schools is scarce to come by – another
limiting factor in monitoring and improving internet
access – and the latest figures (2007) put computer
use at just 11 percent 42 . This figure is only slightly lower
than 13.5 percent of rural schools estimated to use
computers in 2012 43 .
The plan acknowledges this need and has put in place
the School Laptop project (2014) which includes an
evaluation of the curriculum, training for teachers,
and the provision of broadband connectivity to
schools. However, the project has already faced
heavy criticism for its planning and management.
The ICT Authority has also been building relationships
with industry leaders. In 2012, it partnered with
SAP Africa to develop SAP Skills for Africa, an eight
week programme and exam to boost graduates’
employability skills. More recently in early 2015, it
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with Microsoft, which will result in the software firm
providing ICT skills training to up to 300,000 teachers
and an accreditation as Microsoft Certified Educators
on successful completion of the programme.
17

Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
Population: Between 86.6 1 – 96.9 million 2
GDP growth (annual %): 9.9 3
Formally Banked Population (%): 22
Mobile Phone Ownership (%): 23 4
RISING STARS
Lagos in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana, Nairobi in
Kenya and Cape Town in South Africa always
get mentioned as the FinTech hubs on the
African continent.
However, there are other cities that
are seeing a gradual convergence of
favourable factors that will make them
significant in the near future. The following
three cities which fall into this group are:
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cairo (Egypt), and
Luanda (Angola).
The Ethiopian government has put the development
and advancement of ICT at the heart of its strategic
priorities. More specifically, it recognises the
potential this sector can have on financial inclusion,
particularly for its government services. This is
most noticeable in the country’s e-Government
Strategy and Implementation Plan (2011). In it, the
government outlined plans to connect its e-Trade 5
and e-Transport 6 services to the ‘mobile gateway’.
The gateway allows two-way communication between
the government and its citizens via mobile phones
and hand-held devices.
Equally as significant is the Ministry’s investment
in the Ethio-ICT Village. The Village was opened in
March 2013 and attracted the attention of major
telecommunications firms such as Samsung, MTN,
Tecno Mobile, Huawei and ZTE. Spread over 200
hectors, the Park aims to deliver over 300,000 jobs
to Ethiopians 7 , and will no doubt aid the country’s
telecommunication development.
The government recognises the need for MFS to
reach those unbanked millions. In 2012 the National
Bank of Ethiopia, the body in charge of financial
services regulation in the country, issued guidance on
Mobile and Agent Banking Services 8 . The government
has also set itself targets to improve digital financial
services, financial literacy and payments.
The National Bank of Ethiopia has also setup a
Financial Inclusion Council made up of MNOs, banks
and government officials. Many mobile network
providers have been quick to see the potential for
MFS as only 0.03 percent of Ethiopians had a mobile
money account 9 . Within the past year M-Birr (MFS),
HelloCash (MFS) and Online Hasib (e-commerce) have
developed in Ethiopia.
More specifically in the capital, Addis Ababa, there’s a
growing though nascent start-up community. As one
of the goals of the Growth and Transformation Plan
(GTP), a governmental programme to encourage
entrepreneurialism, is the quasi-government entity
the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC). It
is joined by iceaddis and xHub Innovation Society (the
country’s leading technology hubs), as well as the Addis
Ababa Science and Technology University. All three
enterprises are helping to boost the development
of the ICT sector and entrepreneurialism within the
country.
18

Egypt (Cairo)
Population: Between 86.6 10 – 89 .5 million 11
GDP growth (annual %): 2.2 12
Formally Banked Population (%): 14
Mobile Phone Ownership (%) 13 : 53
Egypt has been experiencing relative political stability
and economic growth especially when compared
to the rest of Northern Africa. In 2014, it was one of
only six countries in Africa to have a GDP of over $100
billion standing at $286 billion, Africa’s third largest
after Nigeria and South Africa 14 .
Due to cultural consideration, Cairo has often not
been counted alongside other African cities. It is
commonly seen as a Middle Eastern one. This has
partly played a role in excluding it when writers speak
of emerging African FinTech centres. However, the
country’s position also allows it to easily connect
with European and North African countries; as
well as the Middle East (due to its geographical
and cultural proximity). The country is also highly
influential and active on the international political
stage too 15 . This makes it a great location for startups
to launch into North or Sub-Saharan Africa, or
towards the Middle-East.
Cairo is the largest city in Africa with a population of
approximately 14 million people. This huge market
together with the fact that close to 50 percent of
Egyptians cannot access banking services, make
it a fertile ground for financial service innovation.
Financial inclusion is clearly a priority for the
government and very recently (September 2015) the
Central Bank of Egypt began a field study looking at
the reasons for financial exclusion in the country 16 .
It is hoped that the results of the study will feed into
the national strategy to extend financial inclusion to
more of the country’s population. It follows on from a
recent partnership announced in March 2015 to extend
financial services to Egyptians. The cooperation,
between MasterCard and the Government of Egypt
(represented by the Ministry of Communication and
Information Technology), will involve the rollout of
a digital ID linking “citizens’ national ID cards to an
existing national m-money platform” 17 .
One of the brands with a growing presence in the
Cairo FinTech space is Dopay, a start-up that enables
employers to easily pay their employees through
mobile technology. The company secured $2 million in
seed funding in April 2015 and was part of Barclays’
accelerator programme in 2014. There has also been
a spate of crowdfunding platforms within Egypt.
The most notable of these being: Shekra (a Shariah
compliant crowdfunding platform), Yomeken, and
Zoomaal.
Angola (Luanda)
Population: Between 24.2 18 – 24.4million 19
GDP growth (annual %): 3.9 20
Formally Banked Population (%): 29
Mobile Phone Ownership (%) 21 : 65
Angola is a leading oil and diamond producer in
Africa. This has made it, after the end of a civil war
that ravaged it between 1975 and 2002, one of the
fastest growing economies in the world. The country
has been experiencing an average annual GDP
growth of 20 percent. Moreover, it is both politically
and economically stable too.
As compared to other African cities Luanda, with a
population of approximately 6 million people, is not a big
city; but according to an estimate by the United Nations
the city will reach 10 million by 2030 22 . Nevertheless, its
economic context and government initiatives make it a
good candidate for a future FinTech hub.
Firstly, the country is seeking to establish itself as a
telecommunications hub on the continent. Current
construction of the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS)
will make it the first undersea cable linking Africa and
South America. It is due for completion a year before
the South Atlantic Express (SAex), another submarine
communications cable between Africa and South
19

America – giving it the first movers’ advantage.
The country already possesses the West African Cable
System (WACS) linking it to Western African countries
too. These projects will provide low latency between
African and Asia, and Africa and Europe. Moreover,
the country launched Angosat1 a communication
satellite in 2014, created in collaboration with Russia,
with the aim of delivering improved infrastructure
for the telecommunications market 23 .
The government’s investment in telecommunications
is clearly gaining traction. Angola is seen as a regional
leader in technology adoption, and experts have
estimated that by 2020, over a fifth of all connection
will be 4G 24 .
There has also been noticeable growth in the country’s
financial sector particularly with the increase in
electronic means payment. Between 2012 and 2013 the
number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and
Automated Payment Terminals (APTs) grew by 11 and
35 percent respectively 25 . Nevertheless, there is still
exclusion from the economy with less than 30 percent
of the country’s population holding a bank account 26 .
Financial innovation will play a major role in reaching
out to the unbanked.
Changing government policy, a ready market in
unbanked population and high GDP growth rates are
the factors defining the next addition to the FinTech
evolution on the continent.
Financial Inclusion in Angola
(Number of Automated Teller Machines
and Automated Payment Terminals)
ATM
APT
20

MFS Potential – Formal banked and mobile penetration rates
Tunisia
NORTH
Morocco
132 27
0.6
WEST
CENTRAL
EAST
135
41
Egypt
Algeria
100 50
118
14
1.1
SOUTH
Relative Population Size
over 180 m
100 m
90 m
80 m
70 m
60 m
50 m
40 m
30 m
20 m
116
Sierra
Leone
44
16
4.5
Ivory Coast
86
Ghana
41
13
34
24.3
44
107
2.3
Nigeria
84
Niger
28
7
3.9
Cameroon
12
1.8
Angola
Congo,
Democratic Republic of
65
29
44
17
9.2
10 m
less 10 m
Mobile Subscription
penetration – 2015
Account
(age 15 +) - 2014
Mobile Account
(age 15 +) - 2015
21

MFS Potential – Formal banked and mobile penetration rates
Relative Population Size
over 180 m
Ethiopia
34 22
100 m
1
90 m
80 m
70 m
60 m
50 m
40 m
30 m
20 m
10 m
less 10 m
52
Uganda
77
Rwanda
42
18.1 Kenya
89 75
44
35
Tanzania
75 40
58.4
Zambia
75 36
12.1
32.4
Zimbabwe
32
108
21.6
Botswana
159
52
20.8
NORTH
South Africa
70
WEST
CENTRAL
EAST
155
14.4
22
SOUTH
Mobile Subscription
penetration – 2015
Account
(age 15 +) - 2014
Mobile Account
(age 15 +) - 2015

PART 2:
ACROSS THE
CONTINENT
Legislative Framework
and collaborative
efforts in MFS
FINTECH
REGULATIONS
In this section we focus on MFS regulations,
currently the main FinTech product
regulated by many African governments.
Although predominantly dealt with through
a joint collaborative effort between the
central banking and regulatory bodies,
each government differs slightly in its
approach.
Some reacted more quickly than others to
the fast growth of MFS, whilst others have
chosen to adopt a “test and learn” method
allowing the market to shape regulations.
Irrespective of their various approaches it
cannot be denied that the success of MFS
has rested on governments’ reactions:
whether with hesitation or full support of
the growing sector.
23

Northern Africa
TUNISIA
Tunisia already has a significant proportion of its
citizens accessing financial services through its La
Poste service. Though not a bank nor a microcredit
firm, over 6 million of the country’s 11 million have
postal financial accounts. Of those in the country that
are part of a formal financial service, 90 percent of
them are with the La Poste system. La Poste offers a
large array of FinTech products from MFS, domestic
and international remittances (through MoneyGram
and Western Union), bill payments and smartcard
purchases. Nevertheless the Tunisian Central Bank
(Banque Centrale de Tunise – BCT) is still trying
to improve MFS for its citizens through regulatory
reforms.
There are three institutions representing the
government legalization process for the mobile
money service. These are: Banque Centrale de Tunisie
(BCT), the Ministry of Communication Technologies
(MCT), and Société Monétique Tunisie (SMT), which is
a technology arm of the BCT.
a) The Banque Centrale de Tunisie (BCT):
defines the prudential regulation, control and
supervises banks and other financial institutions.
It is the primary regulator for MFS too. It has
partnered with Societe Monetique Tunisie (SMT) for
the provision of switching and clearing services.
In 2011, the BCT issued a circular on MFS, stating
that they may only be used for payments – all
loading needed to be dealt with at a bank branch
or through the use of a prepaid card issued by a
bank. This effectively left the development of MFS
to banks.
b) The Ministry of Communications Technologies
(MCT): is responsible for the organisation
of the telecommunications sector and oversees all
planning, control and supervision of its activities.
In 2013, following a series of talks between the Ministry
of Telecommunications and other stakeholders –
they agreed a change was needed in MFS. The talks
reached a standstill and in 2014, both World Bank
and Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
launched an assessment of the country’s MFS usage
and market potential.
At present the business model practiced is a bank-led
one, with MNO involvement limited to the development
process. AML/CFT and KYC requirements must be
performed at a bank with a photograph ID. However,
there remains a lack of clarity about these elements
(AML/CFT and KYC) and also interoperability.
MOROCCO
Efforts are being made by Moroccan authorities to
modernise its banking systems and increase financial
services access to its population. The country is a
significant financial centre in Africa, particularly for
in¬surance where it is the second largest market
after South Africa. In 2010, the CGAP conducted a
favourable evaluation of the country’s financial
inclusion strategy. Since then, the Bank of Morocco
(BAM) has implemented the Strategic Plan (2013 – 2015)
to address some of the concerns raised. The country
has a lot to gain from using MFS as it has a high mobile
phone subscription rate per 100 people. This figure
has grown from 30 (2004), to 100 (2011) 1 to over 135 in
the most recent studies (2015) 2 .
There are two public entities responsible for the
regulation of MFSs in the country. These are Bank Al-
Maghrib (BAM), which is the Central Bank of Morocco,
along with L’Agence Nationale de Réglementation des
Télécommunications (ANRT) – the Telecommunications
Authority.
a) The Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM): is the prudential
regulator and supervisor of financial institutions.
Its responsibilities include monitoring and ensuring
security payments systems and related standards
are maintained. It also acts as the government
advisor on aspects relating to the banking and
financial sector. In 2014, BAM was given assistance 3
by the European Investment Bank to promote
financial inclusion in the country.
Some of the difficulties which had already been
aired included the requirement for all MNOs
and their respective agents be registered as
public limited or limited companies 4 . However,
amendments made to Loi N° 30-03 Relative aux
Etablissements de Credit et Organisme Assimiles
(2013) have not only put forward clearer definitions
24

of MFS and other concepts, but also created a
Payment Service Provider category to lead MFSs.
b) L’Agence Nationale de Réglementation des
Télécommunications (ANRT): is responsible
for the supervision of the postal service (La Poste)
and the telecommunications sector. Its duties
include the promotion and maintenance of a fair
and competitive market.
Under the Payment Service Providers category, which
is determined by the BAM, firms are able to transfer
funds and execute payment transactions. AML/
CFT and KYC requirements include the individual’s
national ID and address. These requirements are
for both the sender and recipient. There was no
indication during the research for this report that
interoperability is mandatory.
EGYPT
In 2010, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) approved the
use of MFSs for banks. It was a prudent move toward
greater financial inclusion. Egypt has an economy
heavily dependent on cash with an estimated 94
percent of transactions being cash-based 5 . The
reasons for this are both cultural – such as the notion
of social money pooling, Gam’eya; and sociological as
there remains a general lack of trust in the financial
services and banking sector.
This has resulted in a low banked rate of just 36
percent (as recently as 2011) when both formal and
informal financial players are considered 6 . There
are two main bodies responsible for the regulations
regarding Egypt’s MFS. These are the CBE and the
National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA).
a) The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE): is responsible
for supervising the financial activities, the banking
business and for overseeing any new financial
services coming onto the market. The CBE (in close
collaboration with the Ministry of Finance) has
delegated part of its responsibility to the Egyptian
Banks Company (EBC). These mainly concern the
oversight of the Debit Card Scheme and Shared Cash
Network, The Automated Clearing House, and The
Mobile Payment Network. EBC is also working closely
with MasterCard to bring MFS to all people in Egypt.
b) The National Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (NTRA): ensures the total
coverage of the mobile services network. It also
monitors the technical and economic efficiency of
MNOs in the country. The body benefits from close
collaborations with the CBN and was consulted
when MNOs were being given the opportunity to
provide MFS. The NTRA has also been pressuring
the CBN to make some amendments to MFS
regulations. They have lobbied for the increase
in the daily limits placed on MFS transactions and
for the CBN to explore how the service might best
facilitate international remittances.
The 2010 regulations released by the CBE only
allow banks to deliver MFS. This is subject to being
licensed by the CBE itself. Non-banks must partner
with banks, though ultimate responsibility for the
service rests with the bank. As part of AML/CFT and
KYC requirements, service providers are required
to obtain and send a copy of the account holder’s
identification document onto the partnering bank,
if conducted by a service provider. The regulations
also include maximum limits on users’ account
balances, and their daily and monthly withdrawal
volumes too.
Eastern Africa
KENYA
Following months of engagement between Safaricom
and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), it was agreed
that M-Pesa could be brought onto the market in
March 2007. Within less than two years the service
had amassed 4.5 million active customers. It was its
astronomical rise and pressures from the Kenyan
Bankers Association, which resulted in the service
being called into question by the Ministry of Finance
in late 2008. In a controversial statement, the Ministry
expressed doubt that M-Pesa “will end up well” 7 . It
instructed the CBK to conduct a risk assessment into
M-Pesa’s services and to determine its place within
Kenya’s legislative framework.
CBK was satisfied with M-Pesa’s security and risk
procedures – which were benchmarked against
global standards on the prevention of money
laundering. CBK’s legal team also settled the Banks’
main dispute, namely that the operation was not a
banking business as defined by the Banking Act. The
risk assessment was published in Kenya’s Gazette
in early 2009. The following year, the CBK issued the
25

Guidelines on Agent Banking, which outlined that nonbanks
could act as MFS agents. Regulation of the MFS
market is governed by two bodies: The CBK, and the
Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).
a) The Central Bank of Kenya: Submitted a
National Payments System Bill in 2011, though passed
in the same year, its notice of commencement
was only recently announced in 2014. For the most
part the legislation has codified into banking laws
what already existed within the MFS market. It has
legitimised the existing business models of MFS
and “letters of no objection” given by the CBK for
new MFS businesses; as well as provided clarity for
those new entrants to the market.
The notable features of the new Bill are its increased
focus on ring-fencing and the safeguarding of
funds; and general risk management practices of
MFS firms. The former includes limits on how much
and where money, saved into banks for e-money
purposes, is stored. The second principle relates
to consumer protection. It requires providers
have disclosure mechanisms and open channels
for consumer complaints. It has also incorporated
a fine for MFS providers that fail to comply with
disclosure requirements.
b) The Communications Commission of Kenya
(CCK): regulates Kenya’s telecommunications
services. It is responsible for granting the licenses
to entities to offer mobile telecommunication
services.
The National Payment System Regulations (2014)
validate the AML/CFT and KYC practices which had
existed in the market. This includes the obligation
to verify customers’ identities through official
documents such as birth certificates and driving
licences. The new regulations also do not mandate
interoperability. Instead they encourage market-led
interoperability through the CBK’s recognition of a
Payment Service Provider Management Body (PSPM).
It is yet to be seen whether this will be enough to
address the World Bank’s earlier concerns regarding
M-Pesa’s dominance of the market due to this lack of
interoperability.
UGANDA
When the Bank of Uganda (BOU) was first approached
by the mobile network operators (MNO) to offer MFS it
permitted them to go ahead on two conditions. Firstly,
they must partner with a licensed financial institution.
Secondly, they must apply to the BOU for a “letter of
no objection” which will be granted based on the legal
agreement made between the MNO and licensed
financial institution. Following this, in 2013 the BOU
issued the Mobile Money Guidelines to provide clarity
on the industry about the rules to follow.
It is common practice in Uganda for collaborating
regulatory bodies to enter into Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs). This year (2015) both the
BOU and UCC agreed on the terms of their MOU
and established the Joint Working Group for Mobile
Financial Services (JWG-MFS). Their MOU is said to
formalise the relationship between both bodies
concerning the “approval, regulation and supervision
of mobile money services (MFS)” in Uganda 8 .
There are two main bodies governing MFSs in Uganda:
the BOU and the UCC.
a) The Central Bank of Uganda (BOU): under
the Financial Institutions Act (2004) regulates all
licensed financial institutions. If the MFS operator
is not a licensed financial institution, then they must
partner with a licensed institute in order to offer
MFSs. It is the responsibility of the licensed financial
institute to carry out due diligence on the MNO.
They must obtain proof and review the latter’s –
financial position, business plan, risk management
proposal and technology system, and adherence
to AML/ CFT measures.
The BOU has issued MFS guidelines which stipulate
the approval process of MFSs, information to be
displayed at agent stands such as the agent’s
identity number and dedicated phone numbers
for the MNO 9 involved. However, though BOU
supervises the MFSs, it is the responsibility of the
MNO to supervise its own agent network.
b) The Uganda Communication Commission
(UCC): authorises MNOs to offer MFS as a valueadded
service. It is also responsible for ensuring
network availability (network system uptime)
thereby allowing the service to run, and the
mechanisms for ensuring fair market competition.
At present MFS are mandated to use systems which
are interoperable with other payment systems in
the country and even internationally. The regulation
also state AML/CFT and KYC which include customer
identification through any one of the following: a
valid passport, driving permit, voter’s card, financial
card, identity card among other items. The guidelines
also state that limits will be placed on the frequency,
volume and value of transactions; these limits and
any revisions thereof must be sent to the BOU for its
approval before their commencement.
26

RWANDA
By 2006, The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) had already
begun, aided by both the Monetary and Capital
Markets Department (MCM) and East AFRITAC (AFE), a
modernisation of its financial systems, predominantly
relating to its monetary policy and operations. This
had been the result of a Financial Sector Assessment
Programme (FSAP). At the same time, the NBR sought to
modernise its national payment systems.
Critical to the process was the increased efficiency
of low-value payments, the automation of high value
government payments and the introduction of Real
Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) among other aspects.
Following the completion of these tasks, the NBR
requested the support of the AFE in drafting the
proposal to be put to the Rwandan Parliament. In it,
the NBR outlined its aim to become a regional ‘financial
hub’ and to broaden access to financial services.
Rwanda was introduced to MFS in 2010, later than its
neighbouring countries. Two years later, it released
the regulations governing MFS. There are three main
regulatory bodies charged with providing guidance to
the MFS – banks, mobile network operators, insurers and
agencies. These are: The National Bank of Rwanda 10 –
Central Bank (NBR), the National Payment Council (NPC),
and Rwanda Utilities Regulations Agency (RURA).
a) The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR):
oversees all aspects concerned with the payment
system including the licensing of banks and nonbank
providers. The main legislation governing
MFS is Regulation Governing Payment Provider
Services (2012). In it the NBR sets out the definitions
of ‘branchless banking’, provides the scope of
‘payment services’, process and requirements
for licences (for supervised institutions 11 ), agency
agreements, interoperability 12 , and consumer due
diligence and KYC principles.
I. National Payment System Council: is governed
by the NBR and is tasked with developing a policy
and guidelines for payment systems in Rwanda. It
is made up of representatives from various bodies
including microfinance, telecommunication firms,
government officials and the governor of the NBR.
b) Rwanda Utilities Regulations Agency
(RURA): is tasked with regulating certain public
utilities among which include “telecommunications
network and/ or telecommunications services”.
Its three main aims are to: ensure fair market
competition, improve access through affordability
and availability, and protect consumer rights and
interests. Before a supervised institution can be
licensed by the NBR, it must first be certified by the
RURA as a Payment Service Provider 13 operating in
its network.
Rwanda’s legislation allows non-bank such as MNOs to
lead MFS operations, but they must obtain a license
to conduct the service. Supervised institutions (i.e.
banks, non-bank financial institutions or microfinance
institutions already supervised by the Central Bank)
are exempt from this license requirement. Within the
AML/CFT regulations, clients are required to provide
photographic identification before they are allowed to
open an account through an Agent.
TANZANIA
As part of its “test and learn” approach the Bank
of Tanzania (BOT), though it kept a close watch on
the development of MFS, waited to understand the
growing market before choosing how best to regulate
it. Concurrently, the BOT visited the Philippines in early
2012 to gain an insight into how the country had been
governing its MFS sector. Following this visit, and
discussions with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s
(AFI) Mobile Financial Services Working Group which
included other MFS stakeholders, BOT released the
first draft of its Mobile Payments Regulations in April.
In May 2012, an updated draft was released which
introduced the licensing regime for non-banks offering
MFS. It requires MNOs (and any non-banks) to obtain a
license as wholly-owned subsidiaries. The regulations
also maintained the arrangement requiring MNOs hold
trust accounts with commercial banks at 100 percent
cover. The BOT decided on a licensing arrangement
in conjunction with the body responsible for regulating
the telecommunications industry – Tanzania
Communication and Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
Together the BOT and TCRA regulate the quality of the
service received by consumers and ensure financial
prudence by MNOs and financial institutions.
a) The Bank of Tanzania (BOT): was given
powers via the Bank of Tanzania Regulations to
administer and regulate non-bank entities in
offering payment services. BOT is empowered
to regulate, monitor and supervise the payment,
clearing and settlement system; as well as
conduct full oversight of any bank and financial
institution or infrastructure service provider
within Tanzania.
However, its powers are limited to banks and other
financial institutions, largely ignoring the role of
MNOs. Currently, MNOs need to obtain “letters of
no objection” from the BOT and a pre-requisite
for this is a partnership with a regulated financial
body. This guarantees that consumer funds are
protected in the banking system and are backed
with a 100 percent liquidity prerequisite.
27

) Tanzania Communication and Regulatory
Authority (TCRA): was established under
both the Tanzania Communication and Regulatory
Authority Act (2003), and the Electronic and Postal
Communications (Licensing) Regulations (2011). It
ensures MNOs perform to the required standard
whenever any financial transactions are carried
out through their services.
The BOT and TCRA have a good working relationship
which has been formalised through a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU).
AML/CFT and KYC are conducted on a tiered basis with
the minimum requirement of identity documentation
including such items as voter registration cards,
passports, or employee cards. The tier level
determines the size and daily transfer limits as well
as the maximum account balance permissible for
customers. A key aspect of the updated regulations
is interoperability. The regulations are in line with the
BOT’s National Financial Inclusion Framework released
in 2013, which aims to “build on the country’s recent
successful experience with mobile money services...
to increase Financial Inclusion” in the country 14 .
Southern Africa
ZIMBABWE
There are two primary bodies responsible for
regulating the MFS sector in Zimbabwe. These are
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and Postal
and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). Initially, POTRAZ had complete
oversight of the MNOs, but with the emergence of
MFS, this responsibility is now shared with the RBZ.
With no unique legislation or guidance around MFS
and its activities this has reportedly caused regular
clashes between the regulatory bodies.
The main legislative piece used by the RBZ is the
National Payment Systems Act (2001) which does
not mention MFS or its components. Only financial
institutions are governed by the act, so MNOs must
partner with financial institutions covered in the Act to
offer MFS.
a) The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ): has
primary responsibility and oversight and is guiding
the retail payment services in Zimbabwe. These are
performed over two separate departments: the
National Payment Service Department (NPSD) and
the Banking Licensing Supervision and Surveillance
Division (BLSSD).
I. National Payment Service Department (NPSD)
– proactively seeks to encourage innovative
solutions for the payments service modernisation
ecosystem in such areas as MFS and in increasing
the use of low value payment systems.
II. Banking Licensing Supervision and Surveillance
Division (BLSSD) – has more of a supportive role,
assisting the NPSD in the application and approval
of financial institutions intending to introduce new
MFS products.
The RBZ has a set of internally developed
operational guidelines and frameworks to regulate
MFS. These guidelines are supposedly based on the
Bank of International Settlements and the Bankable
Frontiers Association. With little transparency
concerning these guidelines, their enforcement is
subject to interpretation. Nevertheless, all financial
institutions must apply for ‘permission’ to offer
MFSs. Both financial institutions and MNOs offering
MFS must send weekly reports to the RBZ about the
volume and values of their transactions.
b) Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory
Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ): allows
MNOs to offer MFS, which it regards as ‘valueadded
services’. Its primary concern relates to how
their services are administered and the services’
robustness.
The absence of any specific act, guideline or
regulation concerning MFS means the RBZ (through
the NPSD) communicates to the sector using monetary
policy statements. This absence also means the RBZ
cannot enforce MNOs or financial institutions to
comply on these matters; instead it relies on moral
suasion. All MNOs and financial institutions have
been persuaded to use the ZIMSWITCH gateway to
offer MFS – part of the Zimswitch Instant Payment
Interchange Technology (ZIPIT) system – thus
ensuring interoperability in the industry.
This lack of legislation has meant there are no clear
guidelines on aspects relating to AML/CFT and KYC
within Zimbabwe’s MFS sector. Neither is there a
mandate on MFS systems being interoperable.
28

SOUTH AFRICA
As the first country in Africa to be introduced to MFSs,
the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) made its stance
known on the product in 2006 with its Position Paper on
Electronic Money. This was more recently followed up
in the Position Paper on Electronic Money (2009) and
Position Paper on Interoperability (2011).
In the former position paper, SARB outlines that the
transference if “not normally due to the beneficiary
in terms of an obligation” is classified as “deposittaking”
under the Bank Act, No. 94 of 1990. As ‘deposittaking’
is defined in the Banks Act No. 94 of 1990 as the
“business of a bank”, only banks may undertake MFS.
A recent legislation, the Financial Sector Regulation
Bill (currently in its second draft – October 2015), is
said to represent a huge restructure to the country’s
financial regulations, has reaffirmed SARB’s position
on MFS. Though the Bill does not make any explicit
reference to MFS, it does state that acceptance of
deposits are defined as financial products regulated
by the prudential and conduct authorities.
There are two governing bodies within the country
tasked with regulating the provision of MFS. These are
SARB and the Independent Communications Authority
of South Africa (ICASA).
a) The South African Reserve Bank (SARB):
oversees and supervises the National Payment
System. SARB is also responsible for regulating the
payment, clearing and settlement systems, powers
given to it via the National Payment System and
South African Reserve Bank Acts. It is possible for
a non-bank to enter into an agreement with a bank
to offer these MFSs. Before a bank partners with an
MNO, to offer any MFSs, it must inform the SARB.
b) The Independent Communications Authority
of South Africa (ICASA): provides regulation
of the telecommunications services, such as mobile
phones. It is given its authority under the Electronic
Communications Act 36 of 2005.
Under Guidance Note 6 (released in 2008), banks
are allowed to open low level MFS accounts without
having to undertake face-to-face KYC procedures i.e.
without any documentary evidence. However, most
banking institutions have still chosen to take a more
prudent approach. This has been in an attempt to
avoid AML/CFT violations and the personal penalties
which could be levied against bank compliance
officers. This, together with the relatively low daily
transaction limits on these forms of accounts has
made MFS less attractive for South Africans.
Neither the Position paper on Interoperability or
Electric Money mandates interoperability within MFS.
This omission was intentional with the hope that it will
encourage innovation within the sector. However, the
papers are clear about emphasising this position of
interoperability as the most preferred option.
Western Africa
NIGERIA
The Central Bank of Nigeria Act (2007) included
provisions for the Central Bank of Nigeria promoting
best practice and financial inclusion. At the same time
the Financial System Strategy 2020 was erected to ensure
competitiveness in the country’s economy. Since then
the CBN has been very forthcoming in the development
of guidelines to manage the growing use of MFS. These
have included: The Regulatory Framework for Mobile
Payment Services in Nigeria (2009), and the Regulatory
Framework for Licensing Super Agents.
a) The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): holds the
primary oversight for MFS providers through the
Central Bank of Nigeria Payments Division. This is
legislated through the National Payment Systems
Management Bill and the guidance given in the Mobile
Money Regulatory Framework. The NPS Management
Bill provides management, administration and
supervision of payments, and the clearing and
settlement systems.
While the Regulatory Framework for Mobile Payment
deals with creating an enabling environment for
mobile payment services, and in specifying the
minimum technical and business requirements
needed for MFSs. It also defines the three major
models for the implementation of MFS:
I) Bank-Focused Model: where banks provide MFS
using the mobile phone as the delivery channel.
This model may only be used by licensed financial
institutions.
II) Bank-Led Model: where a bank or consortium
of banks in partnership with other organisations
jointly provide MFSs by leveraging on a mobile
banking system.
III) Non-bank Led Model: allows non-banks, who
have registered with the CBN as Payment Service
Providers, to deliver MFSs. The model is applicable
for any organisation except, licensed deposit
29

money banks and telecommunication companies –
MNOs – that intend to offer MFSs.
b) The Nigerian Communication Commission
(NCC): is responsible for the telecommunications
sector required to support MFS. Telecommunication
firms are excluded from the non-bank led
model, until “regulatory issues between the
NCC and CBN are regulated”. It is also to ensure
telecommunication firms are “not given [an] undue
advantage” because of their wide coverage 15 .
These most recent guidelines fail to mention any
updates on AML/CTF. Instead they refer to the CBN’s
AML/CFT Regulations (2009). However, in 2012, the CBN
released the Proposed Three-Tiered KYC Requirement
Approach. The document outlined maximum deposit
and cumulative balance amounts, together with the
customer ID requirements for each of the three
stages. The minimum KYC requirements at all levels
includes a name, date of birth, gender and address.
The guidelines require that all MFS providers ensure
interoperability and interconnectivity.
GHANA
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) released Guidelines for
Branchless Banking in 2008. It was a set of guidelines
delivered with the foresight of MFS being a major
force within the country. At this point MFS was still
only gaining traction via WIZZIT in South Africa, and
M-Pesa in Kenya. The only provider of MFS in Ghana at
the time, MTN Mobile Money, had only gained 200,000
of its potential 8 million subscribers.
The guidelines stipulated that MFSs were to be
undertaken only by licensed deposit-taking financial
institutes and their agents (such as Telecommunication
firms, fuel distributor firms and retail outlets). As a
means of facilitating interoperability, it also insisted
on a many-to-many arrangement between banks and
their agents. This meant MNOs had to collaboratively
propose MFSs with at least three banks. However,
in July 2015, the BOG replaced this document with
the Guidelines for E-Money Issues in Ghana, it also
released Agency Guidelines too.
a) The Bank of Ghana’s (BOG): original
Branchless Banking guidelines created complexity
and essentially blocked any direct communication
between MNOs and the BOG. As many banks were
also uninterested in banking the unbanked –
content with their existing client base – they failed
to properly invest in the scheme. The many-tomany
arrangement also left banks fearful of the
“free rider” problem from other banks involved in
the scheme. It left MNOs in a precarious position,
conducting these activities knowing they were
breaking the law, and also attracting customers
who ultimately belonged to the banks.
These issues were highlighted to the BOG by
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP),
who demonstrated how the Branchless Banking
guidelines had inadvertently caused Ghana to
lag behind its competitors in MFS and financial
inclusion. These new guidelines removed all these
constraints: the many-to-many scheme, forced
banking and MNO partnerships, and indirect
communication with MNOs. It also required that
at least 80 percent of interest made from MFS
deposits be passed onto customers, and that
non-banks had to participate fully through whollyowned
subsidiaries – Dedicated Electronic Money
Issuers (DEMI).
The Guidelines for E-Money Issuers in Ghana
is intended to increase financial inclusion, and
safeguard and mitigate against risks associated with
MFS. They have avoided mandating interoperability in
the aim of this aspect becoming a market-led process.
It also adopts a three level risk-based approach
to KYC each with maximum balance and daily and
monthly transaction limits. The type of identification
documents varies depending on the level of account
opened. All three accounts require that the customer
provide their name, date of birth, residential
address, telephone number and an acceptable form
of identification document.
30

Enabling Environment – Mapping the legislative landscape.
Enabling Environment
Country
Year
MFS
Introduced
Mobile Money
Penetration
(2015)
Business Model:
Bank- led, Nonbank
or Payment
Provider Service
Regulations
AML/CFL&
KY
Interoperability
(Mandated - M.)
Overall
Evaluation of
Enablin
Environment
Tunisia 2010 0.6 Bank-led
Difficult/
Unclear
Legislation
is unclear
Difficult
Morocco 2010 - Non-bank led Difficult - Difficult
Egypt 2013 1.1 Bank-led Medium M. Medium
Kenya 2007 58.4 Both Simple Not M. Easy
Uganda 2009 35.1 Both Simple M. Easy
Rwanda 2010 18.1 Both Simple M. Easy
Tanzania 2008 32.4 Both Simple M. Easy
Zimbabwe 2011 21.6 (No regulation) Uncertain Not M. Difficult
South Africa 2004 14.4 Bank-led Medium Not M. Medium
Nigeria 2011 2.3
Both – non-bank
led excl. MNOs;
and PPS
Medium M. Difficult
Ghana 2009 13
Both – wholly
separate entity
Medium Not M. Medium
31

Southern and Eastern Africa
MOBILE
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
COLLABORATIONS
The growth of MFSs in Africa has
predominately been led by MNOs; however,
many governments have defined them
as ‘financial products’ thereby requiring
financial oversight. This has led to a dual
regulatory system between Central Banks
and Telecommunications departments.
This, together with the intense competition,
has forced firms to enter into partnerships
to provide more innovative products and
services. Below is a review of some of the
major collaborations occurring across
the continent beginning firstly within the
Southern and Eastern regions, and then in
Northern and Western Africa.
Dominant payments player faces challenge
M-Pesa is the most high-profile and successful
FinTech firm in Africa. It is owned by Safaricom, a firm
which Vodafone owns a 40 percent stake. Since its
launch M-Pesa has entrenched itself in the financial
services system through banking collaborations
thereby further expanding its offerings. Its latest
collaborations with Kenya Commercial Bank and
Commercial Bank of Africa separately, have resulted
in M-Shwari and M-Pawa both loan services. Each
product has been of huge commercial success.
M-Shwari has over 10 million customers in Kenya, while
M-Pawa has 1.8 million customers in Tanzania.
That success has attracted a new competitor in the
biggest bank in Eastern Africa by deposits – Kenya’s
Equity Bank. It has a network of 200 branches across
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
Having previously launched a service with Safaricom
which failed, it has now sought to gain full control
of the process by diversifying and becoming a
mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) through its
subsidiary, Equitel.
The firm has leased over 60 percent of another MNO’s
(Airtel) network infrastructure. It plans to roll out its
MVNO to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda through this
deal with Airtel. Its latest service facilitates mobile
banking through the use of a film-like label which
is stuck onto the customer’s existing SIM card. The
service attracted 1 million subscribers during its
initial 1 . It has had a cumulative monthly growth rate in
SIM uptake of 93 percent in its first year 2 .
Equitel’s Profile:
Mobile Virtual Network Operator
Orange Money has
loaned 60 % of Airtel’s
network infrastructure
telecommunications.
2.2% OF THE MARKET
Equitel has so far gained a market share of 2.2
percent at the expense of Orange Money and Airtel,
the local arm of India’s Bharti Airtel. Safaricom has
mounted a strong campaign to limit Equitel’s growth,
and in August 2015, increased transfer tariffs for
third-party users 3 . It has also argued that Equitel’s
thin SIM technology presents security risks; however,
these claims have since been dismissed by courts.
32

Orange Moves East
As well as facing Equitel’s growth, Safaricom is also
dealing with a fresh challenge from Orange, through
its Orange Money service, particularly within the
realm of international remittances. Its counter-attack
is a partnership with MTN Mobile Money allowing
international remittances between their services.
The deal permits M-Pesa customers (based in
Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and
Mozambique) and MTN Mobile Money customers
(based in Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia) to more easily
transfer money between each other. Orange Money
has in turn moved into Botswana, partnering with Visa
Card, to enable Orange Money account holders to
use approved point-of-service (POS) terminals and
e-commerce websites.
Tackling the smaller markets
M-Pesa delayed its launch into Lesotho by a few
months to learn from its distribution channels in
Tanzania. It was preceded to Lesotho by First National
Bank (through its FNB eWallet) and Econet Telecom
Lesotho – ETL, through its Ecocash offering. Econet
has since developed a funeral cover service with
Alliance Insurance; a deal the insurance firm has
also entered with Safaricom allowing the payment of
insurance premiums via the M-Pesa platform 4 .
Though often overlooked because of the larger
countries which surround it, the Swazi government is
trialling the use of Swazi MTN’s services to distribute
welfare funds. However, one major concern stopping
the deal from progressing is the low coverage available
on its national borders with South Africa. Swazi MTN is
also working with Ericsson on the deployment of the
Ericsson Converged Wallet to enhance the stability and
security of Swazi MTN’s MFS offerings.
Northern and Western Africa
Orange Money enters the lexicon
Orange SA is one of the primary players in Northern
and Western Africa through its Orange Money, MFS.
It debuted the product in Ivory Coast in 2008 and
grew to more than 100,000 subscribers in a year. It is
now so pervasive that the French phrase “faire un
Orange Money” (“Do an Orange Money”) is part of
local vernacular.
Since then, it has expanded into 13 African countries
and has over 13 million subscribers. Roughly 30 million
EUR ($32 million) are exchanged via Orange Money.
The service is primarily in Western and Northern
African countries. Through its part ownership of
Mobinil in Egypt it has partnered with BNP Paribas and
Emriates NBD to offer MobiCash. While in Tunisia, the
service is provided in conjunction with Tunisian Post
as MobiMoney.
of mobile financial services. The interoperability
between the two firms builds on Orange Money’s
success in the remittance market in Western
Africa. Launched only in August 2013, it has already
garnered 20 percent of all remittances between
Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal 5 . Western Union and
MTN are collaborating to gain a strong foothold in
this lucrative remittances corridor.
Remittance Corridor:
Ivory Coast-Mali-Senegal
(Orange Money’s Market Share)
Mali
Orange’s expansion
Orange is seeking more bank partnerships to
expand distribution including one with the Bank of
Africa Group, following a successful partnership in
Madagascar. Orange was also reported to be in talks
to buy four of Airtel’s African businesses in an attempt
to accelerate its expansion. The firm is also discussing
the possible acquisition of Airtel units in Burkina Faso,
Chad, Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.
“The international transfer service reserved
exclusively for Orange customers is now available t
o Burkina Faso’s Airtel Money customers, and viceversa.,”
announced Thierry Millet, Orange’s head
Senegal
Cote
D’Ivoire
200m
2013
The deal mirrors a similar collaboration which had
existed between MTN Ivory Coast and Airtel Bharti
Bukina Faso allowing interoperability between
their respective clients. Orange also announced in
September 2015 Africa’s first mobile crowdfunding
33

platform, called Orange Collecte, in partnership with
French charity-giving site HelloAsso.
Tangled web of Technology partnerships
There are four main technology partners used within
the field of m-money. They are Mahindra Comviva,
Tagiattitude, Pyro Mobile Money, and Verifone. These
firms collectively account for 40 percent of the
MFS partnership deals conducted in Northern and
Western Africa.
Originally launched as Bharti Telesoft in 1999,
Mahindra Comviva 6 was a subsidiary of the Bharti
Group, before Tech Mahindra acquired a controlling
stake (51 percent) of the company in 2012. In April 2010,
it worked with Maroc Telecom in Morocco to deliver
MobiCash through its award winning mobiquity
system. It deployed the same mobiquity financial
solution in 2013, in its partnership with Gabon Telcoms
(an affiliate of Marco Telecom).
In contrast to Manhindra Comviva’s interconnected
partnerships, Tagiattitude has worked predominately
with smaller or less geographically spread firms. Many
of its collaborations with: Afrimarket, Celpaid Cote
d’Ivoire, Qash Mobile Banking, and Flooz, are not
under the same corporate umbrella or connected by
history, but from both major MNOs and independent
payment service firms.
Verifone Mobile Money is another large powerful
technology provider similar to Manhindra Comviva,
Verfione Terminals in Morocco
80% of the 26,000 terminals
and has fostered working partnerships with the MTN
Group across its 16 countries of operation, enabling
customer use of MTN Mobile Money, and retail use
of its payment terminal solutions. More recently, it
has jointly worked with Bharti Airtel in Ghana bringing
contactless payment services to the latter’s 1.5 million
customers. Its coverage in both Nigeria and Morocco
is hugely impressive. In the former, Verifone claims
to work with all 12 major banks, whilst in the latter
provides 80 percent of the 26,000 terminals in use.
Government initiatives and schemes
More significantly is Verifone’s partnerships with
national bodies. In May 2008, the firm came to an
agreement with leading transaction switching and
payment firms, Ferlo and Byte Tech from Senegal.
The deal resulted in the distribution of Veriofone’s
payment solutions throughout the Union Economique
et Monetairy Ouest Africane (UEMOA) countries 7
and Cameroon.
Verifone has also worked with the Nigerian
government, first in 2012 and later in 2014. The first
deal was a systems solutions project costing $17.8
million, whilst the second project involved the roll
out of more than 100,000 devices as part of the
government’s cash-lite initiative.
MasterCard has so far worked with both the Nigerian
and Egyptian governments in developing national
identification cards for their respective citizens. In
March 2015, Egypt elected to work with MasterCard to
create digital (mobile based) IDs linked to the national
ID cards. The digital ID cards are intended to improve
P2G services in the country.
The pace of deals within the continent is fast and is
unlikely to stop as other countries outside of Kenya,
South Africa and Nigeria continue to embrace
MFS. Many of these new products and services are
moving beyond simple m-payments and transfers.
They are branching into international remittances,
investments options, savings products, and other
aspects contributing to financial deepening.
34

Percentage and geographical spread of MFS deals over time.
2004
1
2005
0
2006
0
2007
2
2008
6
2009
13
2010
25
2011
47
2012
36
2013
30
2014
19
2015
3
0
5 10 15 20 25 30
Central
North East West South
TOTAL
35

PART 3:
DERIVATIVES
AND
DRIVERS
Secondary Effects
of FinTech and
Start-up enablers
SECONDARY
EFFECTS OF
FINTECH
The increased use of mobile technology,
specifically mobile phones has been of huge
benefit to many people. Prior to the existence
of FinTech, the development of MFS and
introduction of M-Pesa, telecommunications
were already significant contributors
to countries’ GDP output. In 2006, tax
contribution from mobile communications
accounted for between 3.5 and 5 percent
of total GDP in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania
and Uganda 1 . Since then, these East African
countries have gained from the success
of M-Pesa and the proliferation of MFS.
The latest figures now put total mobile
communications at over 6 percent of Sub-
Saharan Africa’s GDP – the largest of any
comparable region 2 .
The full coverage of how this total has been
derived is best dealt with elsewhere 3 . This
report is intended to focus specifically on
the secondary effects of FinTech, principally
on MFS which is the most developed area
of this sector. However, there are some
intersections between MFS and mHealth,
and MFS and m-Agri(culture). These will be
considered briefly and only in their relation
to FinTech. The focus here is on how this
revolution in the financial services is having
an effect on everything from consumer
saving to inflation and wider financial
deepening.
36

Saving
In itself MFS does not encourage saving or act
as a means of reducing “hot stimulus” i.e. the
discouragement of immediately spending any
received monies 4 . M-Pesa, one type of MFS, has
been known to be used as a ‘rudimental bank
account’ by its users. However, the service alone
is not enough to encourage better saving choices
or create saving habits. Instead, it provides a good
foundation to encourage saving behaviour. By
simply accompanying the service with regular SMS
messages prompting users to save has proven
sufficient enough to encourage this behaviour.
Preliminary findings suggest that it is the regularity
of the messages, rather than the actual saving
mechanism which is the main factor resulting in the
behavioural change.
However there are more innovative products on
offer which have used MFS to encourage saving.
One example is Jipang KuSave (JKS) which utilises
microfinance (specifically microloans) to ensure
saving. The concept works by the customer setting
a savings target over a period of time. They are
then given a series of interest free microloans part
of which they are ‘forced’ to save for their chosen
future date. As the customer repays their loans,
they are eligible for even higher loan amounts –
which are split between immediate use and ‘forced’
savings. Eventually, the customer will have enough
savings to form part of their future loans or
savings target.
This method of saving helps break the cycle of
individuals having to rely on expensive credit
options during times of low/erratic income or
‘shocks’. Though not originally intended as a saving
tool, M-Pesa has certainly allowed its customers
to be more prudent with their spending. Since its
introduction M-Pesa customers have increased
savings for “emergencies” – self-insurance. From
2008 to 2009 there was an increase of 10 percent
(from 12 to 22 percent 5 ). One possible explanation
for this is that customers now have another platform
from which to regularly check their bank balance
and progress towards a saving target.
Jipang KuSave (JKS)- Microloans Scheme
Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3 Cycle 4
Forced Savings
Inflation
The fear that m-money transactions will cause an
increase in inflation in African countries has been
proven wrong in various research papers. There is
good reason behind the immediate concern. M-money
transactions have been shown to increase both the
velocity of money and the money multiplier effect:
both concepts traditionally linked with increases in
inflation. However, these transactions appear to
have “loosened the link between these variables and
inflation” 6 . This means inflation will be more difficult to
predict based on these two components 7 .
More encouragingly, recent research has suggested
that this link between the use of m-money transaction
presents no cause for concern over “its potential
inflationary consequences” 8 . Though the study
conducted uses data from Uganda, a country with a
relatively short (five year history) in MFS, it is still highly
significant for monetary policy. The study also stated
that the wide spread acceptance of MFS might “reduce
inflation”. This is due to the quicker transference of
money to locations where it is most needed. Many
African communities studied show great reliance on
informal insurance networks of friends and family
during shocks. MFS facilitates this re-distribution of
wealth in a way which is quicker, safer and cheaper
than traditional money transfer methods.
!
Sharing Risk
The increased use of mobile phones in itself helps
with the spread of information. This is particularly
important during turbulent or unexpected events
when extra financial or social support is required. Many
of the communities studied in Kenya, Tanzania and
Mozambique rely on an informal insurance system.
They seek financial assistance from those within
their wider network rather than through financial
institutions. The spread of MFS increases access to and
quickens the delivery of credit through friends and
family. Further proof of this risk sharing behaviour
has been shown in the timing of domestic remittances 9
which reach their peak during lean seasons.
(Domestic) Remittances
So far most of the research focussing on the effects of
37

emittances using MFS has concentrated on domestic
remittances – those occurring within the country.
Early studies stipulated that MFS could change the
direction, regularity, and amount of remittances .
Recent evidence appears to support these earlier
claims. M-Pesa users appear to generally send and
receive remittances more frequently than non-M-
Pesa users.
However, aggregate amounts of domestic
remittances have not changed. This indicates
that M-Pesa remittances are generally smaller
than remittances sent through postal services or
traditional remittance firms. These traditional firms
are mainly used when sending larger amounts. Even
when higher transaction thresholds are allowed, MFS
users have still been known to prefer traditional
remittance services such as MoneyGram, Western
Union and financial institution branches over MFS 10 .
One possible explanation is that MFS users who are
often younger might have fewer financial and moral
obligations. They are, therefore less likely to send
larger remittances. It might also simply be brand
loyalty amongst the older generation for these wellknown
traditional firms. Another interesting finding –
perhaps supporting these conclusions – is the slight
change in remittance recipients.
M-Pesa users were more likely to send and receive
remittances from friends and their wider-family,
rather than from children to their parents. The
authors have speculated that this could imply M-Pesa
users possess or are more ‘in contact’ with a larger
network as a result of using M-Pesa 11 .
Conditional/ Non-conditional Cash Transfers
Conditional cash transfers (CCT) have proven
immensely popular and have grown significantly.
In 1997 only three countries relied on such methods,
a decade later nearly 30 countries had adopted the
technique 12 . They have been adopted by several
non-governmental agencies, though their use and
analysis, especially from an academic standpoint on
financial inclusion, remains relatively low 13 .
MFS offers a further opportunity to distribute CCT
as adoption rates continue to reach the previously
‘unbanked’. While this might prove more efficient, it
is not without risk, especially if they were to reach the
wrong recipient 14 . Evidence suggests that sharing
mobile phones is common practice in many of the
African communities studied 15 - it would therefore be
difficult to be completely certain of who will access
the funds.
Even so, CCTs programmes can encourage the
use of MFS by requiring or at least incentivising
individuals to opt into these products. From there,
beneficiaries have access to financial instruments,
thus contributing to greater financial inclusion. It
is here that MFS might intersect with several other
areas such as mAgri and mHealth – both of which are
discussed in more detail below.
Safety
MFS has also proven useful as a means of safety to
avoid possible cash theft. One study found MFSs were
being used extensively for very short-term transactions
of less than two hours 16 . It seemed customers were
using MFS as a storage device to avoid carrying cash.
The researchers were able to quantify how much
customers were willing to pay 17 for this benefit.
Though there has been this noted increase to
customer safety, many criminals have started
targeting MFS agents 18 . Recent surveys conducted
with Network Agents have found the threat of armed
robbery remains a top three concern 19 . However, it
must be noted that this threat has reduced between
2013 and 2014 (from 0.71 to 0.55 20 ). For both years the
greatest concern of agents remained the risk of
fraud 21 22 and having to deal with customers when an
error in the service occurs.
Financial Inclusion/ Financial Deepening
Perhaps the biggest benefit of MFS is
its contribution to financial inclusion and ability
to target the previously “unbanked”. Many have
questioned if M-Pesa (the runaway success) has been
able to achieve this aim. There are many statistics
which indicate that it has only managed to attract
the wealthier, urban ‘already banked’, educated
citizens of Kenya 23 . Though correct, these are only
the characteristics of early users: parallel to those
innovators and early adopters demographics noted
in the technology adoption lifecycle.
38

Overall the numbers are hugely positive. Those
excluded from financial services in Kenya has dropped
from 39.3 to 25.4 percent between 2006 and 2013 24 .
More recent adopters (of M-Pesa) are less affluent
and account for 72 percent of the total consumption
Improvements in Financial Inclusion:
Total Consumption of M-Peas
(Original against Current)
39.3 %
25.4 %
Financially Excluded
100 72
2007 2014
Total consumption
of early adoption
of the early adopters indicating its continued
penetration among less wealthy individuals. In fact,
MFS is slowly being adopted by a broader share of
the population. The key figure being that the rate of
adoption of M-Pesa in ‘unbanked’ households doubled
between 2008 and 2009 25 .
MFS has also increased financial deepening across
the continent. This can be noticed in the ‘ripple’
effects caused through MFS’s introduction. Since
its launch M-Pesa has given its users, many of
whom were previously unbanked, access to many
financial products – see Financial Deepening
Through M-Pesa below.
As a result several African countries are looking
at ways by which to better regulate the new sector,
ensure market fairness and safety by reviewing
their AML/CFT procedures, and reap the full benefits
of financial inclusion: all components of financial
deepening. However, it is important to note that
financial inclusion is not an end in itself, but a means
to poverty alleviation. Unfortunately, too many studies
and statistics still fail to focus on MFS’s ability to ensure
this ultimate outcome.
MFS Intersections with mHealth and mAgri
Beyond MNOs, many government and international
stakeholders are considering how best to use this new
development to better distribute welfare payments
and financial aid. One example is through the USAID’s
Better Than Cash Alliance which advocates and
conducts research into the greater use of FinTech
in its work. The alliance has supported economic
development in countries like Malawi 26 .
USAID has also been exploring FinTech options, one
of which includes the use of digital payment 27 for its
programmes in Uganda 28 . The pilot project report
(delivered in March 2014) concluded that it was
successful and that there was “great potential” for
this form of transaction.
Other services such as Changamka and MamaKiba in
Kenya are targeted MFSs for outpatient and maternity
care. They encourage pregnant women to save for
health facility-based deliveries and later the ongoing
care of their baby. In Ghana, MicroEnsure (in
collaboration with Tigo and Bima) and in Nigeria (with
Airtel) has developed a freemium opt-in model for life
insurance. This gift has been developed presumably
as a means of attracting and retaining clients as the
MFS sector becomes increasingly competitive.
A study of farmers in Mozambique looked at how
FinTech services could have an effect on saving and
the use of fertilizer. The two groups for comparison
in the study were: those paid interest on average
savings by the end of the test period, and those given
training on MFS and fertilizer use to both them and
their two closest friends. Preliminary results indicated
that the farmers from the first group were more likely
to save to receive higher interest amounts, and felt
less pressure to lend to their friends. It demonstrates
the effect customised interest-bearing MFS accounts
could have on savings, MFS adoption, and the
frequency of expenditure.
The Nigerian government has also combined
FinTech and mAgri to improve the communication
with and education of farmers. Though marred by
controversy 29 , the phone-for-farmers project will give
farmers on purchase of their mobile phone an e-wallet
account. From this they will regularly receive vouchers
to spend on fertilizers and seeds at subsidised rates.
The use of FinTech and specifically MFS within Africa,
particularly in the Sub-Saharan region is hugely
significant. It is even more so as many of these services
did not exist on the continent until as recently as 2010.
Moreover, there is clearly more room for growth as
many of the continent’s largest economies: Nigeria,
South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria: have yet to
fully exploit their MFS potential.
39

The most successful FinTech, specifically MFS in Africa is M-Pesa. Through its
multiple collaborations – with banks, financial institutes, and various bodies –
it has helped improve financial deepening and reduced the level of financial
exclusion in Kenya.
Financial Deepening Through M-Pesa
Ownership: Safaricom
25% Free Float
40% Vodafone 35% Government of Kenya
Kenya Statistics
Market Share
76.2 % (March 2015)
Mobile Money Subscribers:
20.6m Mobile Money Subscribers
Agents
85,759 – 79% market
presence of National
Agent Network
Merchant Payments
Ksh 11.6bn ($113 m)
Causing a 5 % decrease
in Kenyan Cash use
Customer can
dispatch
e-money via SMS
text messages.
The M-Pesa system
adjusts the e-money
balances on both
accounts.
E-money can
then be
exchange with an
agent for cash
The individual
sends e-money
to the Agent
Customer can also
top up their
account by going
to an agent with
their phone and ID
Customer tell
the agent how
much they want
to add onto their
phone
Customer
gives the
agent cash, in
exchange for
the e-float
Debited from the
customer’s
M-Pesa account
and credited to
the Agent.
Customer will
receive an SMS from
M-Pesa confirming
the transaction.
How
M-Pesa
Works
Both parties
will receive an
SMS from
M-Pesa
confirming the
transaction
Both parties will
receive an SMS
from M-Pesa
confirming the
transaction.
40
Having entered
their six-digit code
and mobile
They will select enter the
ATM number and receive
Customer can withdraw
money at an ATM by

Financial Deepening Through M-Pesa
Rent payments (LIPA KODI)
Tenants can pay their rent through their
phones. The account links with their housing
agents, landlords and real estate businesses .
Transaction History(SAFARICOM M-LEDGER)
Allows users to keep track of the M-Pesa
account
Insurance/ Health Insurance
M-Pesa users can now pay move into their
Saving and Credit Co-operative (SACCO)
accounts and also pay their insurance premiums
without the need to visit any insurance
offices.
Linda Jamii Micro-Health Insurance: M-Pesa users
are now any to access micro-insurance for
inpatient and outpatient care.
E-commerce (LIPA NA M-PESA ONLINE)
Facilities the use of online shopping using the
available balance on the person’s M-Pesa
account.
@
Facilitating P2G
Many users, through the eCitizen portal, can
access government services and make payments
for a variety of government services.
Faini Chap Chap: Now traffic offenders can pay
their fines through a system linked with a few
law courts in the country.
Current Accounts (M-SHWARI)
Essentially a banking service similar to a current
account allowing users to: save, earn interest,
and borrow using their M-Pesa accounts.
41

Financial Deepening Through M-Pesa
International Remittances (M-PESA IMT)
Allows M-Pesa users to receive international
remittances from over 200 countries through the
partnerships the firm has built with international
remittance services like Western Union.
Fundraising/ Crowdsourcing (CHANGA NA M-PESA)
Raise funds for a variety of projects or events such as
weddings, funerals, charities etc.
Utility Bills (OKOA STIMA)
This is a short-term loan for individuals to use to
pay for their electricity bills.
M-KOPA: A savings account which allows users,
through a pay-per-use instalment plan to
acquire solar energy systems.
School Payments (LIPA KARO NA M-PESA)
Links school payments (e.g. registration, school
fees, fund raising, activity fees) between M-Pesa
users and schools which hold Bank accounts with
Kenya Commercial Bank.
PesaPal: Developed a web-based interface allowing
schools to be able to track various school
payments.
Investment (M-PESA + OLD MUTUAL)
Through this partnership, users of M-Pesa can
create and top-up Unit-based investments
through monthly contributions via their phones.
Merchant Payments (LIPA NA M-PESA MERCHANT SERVICE)
A service which makes it easier for merchants to accept
payment for M-Pesa. Customers can pay for goods and
services via their phones.
42

Incubators
HIGHLIGHTED
START-UP
ENABLERS
There is no shortage of economic growth in
Africa. Six of the world’s ten fastest growing
economies of the past decade are in sub-
Saharan Africa. Here are the many FinTech
accelerators, incubator, and co-working
spaces across the continent supporting the
next generation of entrepreneurs.
ActivSpaces
Based in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, ActivSpaces
is primarily a technology hub which runs both an
incubation and acceleration programme. It also
offers various levels of membership from the minimal
(providing a well-functioning co-working space)
to the most advanced, the Activation Bootcamp.
Through the Activation Bootcamp members are able
to take advantage of the organisation’s legal team,
mentorship, and seed funding opportunities.
ccHub
Styled as Nigeria’s first open living and incubation
space, ccHub is intended to act as a catalyst for the
many stakeholders in Nigeria’s start-up ecosystem. It
offers a range of supportive systems to its members
including networking opportunities, mentorship,
training and even funding.
Standard Bank Incubator programmes
Developed through Standard Bank as a means to
educate, empower and develop entrepreneurs, the
Bank has created a range of programmes. It includes
two incubators one concentrating on business the
other on technology. It also has a virtual incubator
providing a co-working space in Cape Town and other
locations, and a business development programme
providing 12-months of support for those who have
attended its incubator programmes.
Wennovation Hub
Wennovation is another start-up hub in Nigeria
offering a range of services and programmes.
Among these is its Innovation Management service
which provides firms with advice on how best to build
and develop a business.
43

Accelerators
Flat6Labs
Flat6Labs chooses teams from all over Egypt, and
brings them to Cairo to receive three months of
intensive mentorship and training, culminating in a
Demo Day. Flat6Labs invests between 50,000-75,000
EGP ($8,000 - $12,500) in its start-ups in exchange
for a 10-15 percent equity stake, and offers further
investment of 250,000 EGP ($40,000) in start-ups that
demonstrate promise.
N2V Labs
Officially based in Amman, with access to their centres
in Riyadh, Dubai, Cairo, and Silicon Valley. It was
launched in Feb 2011, by parent company National Net
Ventures. In addition to N2V’s funding vehicles for
seed, early stage and Joint Venture start-ups, N2V
recruits web and mobile talent as entrepreneurs-inresidence,
providing salaries, seed funding and 3-6
months of mentorship and training to accelerate their
ideas into start-ups.
Tech Lab: South Africa
Barclays Africa launched an accelerator for health
and FinTech start-ups in South Africa. It offers a
13-week accelerator program aimed at providing
10 FinTech and e-health start-ups with access to
business mentors, industry leaders, influencers and
other experts.
Tech Lab Africa is also the first program on the
African continent that, in addition to convertible note
financing options, will provide ventures the option to
use a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (S.A.F.E.)
investment structure for immediate financing rounds
during and after the program.
Plug and Play Egypt
Rising Tide Fund provides funds for start-ups on a caseby-case
basis, ranging from $10,000 to $1 million. Plug
and Play provides office space and fulltime mentorship
in Cairo, bringing start-ups to their facilities in Silicon
Valley four times a year for bootcamps to prepare
for potential venture capital investment. It is based in
Cairo, Egypt and was launched in February 2011, by Dr.
Ossama Hassanein of Rising Tide Fund; Saeed Amidi of
Plug and Play International; and Hazem El Wassimy of
Plug and Play Egypt.
Startupbootcamp: South Africa and Kenya
Startupbootcamp’s FinTech accelerator was
announced back in February 2015, supported by
multiple big brand backing — including financial
services groups Lloyds and Rabobank, payment
giant MasterCard and SBT Venture Capital.
Startupbootcamp argues that having multiple big
brand backers gives its accelerator an edge. Some of
its previous alumni include:
• Creditable; South Africa
Creditable enables credit unions, lenders,
businesses and individuals to give loans to their
customers, employees, suppliers and family
professionally in just five minutes.
• M-Changa; Kenya
M-Changa’s proprietary technology enables
anyone to quickly and inexpensively manage a
remote fundraiser through their mobile phone.
Impact Hub Accra
Hub Accra had already been in existence for two-years
having launched in 2013 before it joined the Impact
Hub Network and was re-branded Impact Hub Accra.
The establishment aims to promote entrepreneurship
within the Ghanaian ecosystem through the many
workshops, events, and programmes it offers.
Tahrir2 (Tahrir Squared)
Tahrir squared was launched on April 1st, 2011, by Samer
al Sahn, the former CEO of software development
company eSpace and Mohammed Gawdat, the
Managing Director of Eastern and Emerging Europe,
Africa, and the Middle East at Google. It is based in
Alexandria, Egypt.
Co-working spaces
The iSpace Foundation
Situated in the capital of Ghana, Accra; iSpace
provides a unique co-working space for the
technology community in the city. It is a non-profit
organisation run using the membership fees and
sponsorships it receives.
JoziHub
A technology hub based in Johannesburg, JoziHub
aims to harness the power of innovation, start-up and
creativity to develop advances in the field of network
and community technology. It is a shared space for
firms offering a range of benefits depending on the
level of membership purchased.
BongoHive
The organisation stands as Zambia’s first technology
and innovation hub having been founded in 2011 in
Lusaka. It aims to build entrepreneurial capacity
for its members through issue-specific workshops
and seminars as well as run developer courses. It
does this through its co-working space, incubator
programme and consulting.
kLab (knowledge Lab)
The mission behind kLab is to promote, facilitate,
and develop ICT solutions in Rwanda (it is based in
Kigali) in an attempt to bolster the entrepreneurial
community in the city. It does this by hosting a
44

number of events and by providing both technical
and business assistance to its members.
xHub Innovation Society
As part of the growing ecosystem in Addis Ababa
in Ethiopia, xHub Innovation Society provides a coworking
space for IT entrepreneurs and supporters.
As part of its membership packages, residents are
able to access its wide network for advice, business
tools, training, and workshops.
iLab: Liberia
iLab Liberia is a non-profit computer laboratory
providing access to cutting-edge technology, expert
IT assistance and a community leveraging technology
for the good of Liberia. It offers free relevant ICT
courses that are open to the public. iLab also hosts
technology events and serves as a meet-up space for
a range of tech enthusiasts and professionals.
Iceaddis
Helps facilitate creative projects and events in the
capital of Addis Ababa by providing them with a coworking
space bringing together entrepreneurs and
creative individuals. It also functions as an innovation
hub. Iceaddis is special because it was the first
innovation hub and co-working space to establish
itself in Ethiopia.
Among its many activities are the consultancy and
start-up support it gives to its members through
the experience of its management team and the
leverage it has gained through some of its strategic
partnerships.
Hive Colab
The organisation is one of the first technology hubs
to exist in Uganda. Situated in Kambala it provides
both a co-working space and an innovation hub for
its residents. The firm offers mentorship, advice and
guidance through its inhouse consultants. It claims
to provide everything a firm needs from creating a
visible identity to market growth.
AlphaCode
AlphaCode based in Sandton (South Africa) is a
shared co-working space for the next generation
of financial services entrepreneurs in the country.
It brings together a variety of influential people in
the FinTech space facilitating collaboration through
its many events, mentorship opportunities and
market insights.
Innovation Centres
CiTi (formally known as Cape IT Initiative)
A technology hub intended to build the capabilities of
the region was established in 1998 and is one of the
oldest technology hubs in South Africa. It is the first
firm to launch both a Digital Currency Hub; and First
Reality Community in South Africa.
Innovations Hub: South Africa
The Innovation Hub’s is Africa’s first internationally
accredited Science and Technology Park. It is a
subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development
Agency, an agency of the Gauteng Department of
Economic Development. The Innovation Hub covers
several key sectors including IT, Biosciences, Green
Technologies and Industrials. The organization is home
to 47 businesses. These are made up of companies
who utilize the Innovation Hub’s Business Incubator
Program which gives them access to complimentary
Wi-Fi connectivity and mentorship.
The Innovation Hub is also behind the launch of
ground-breaking initiatives including the Gauteng
Accelerator Program, an initiative designed to build
entrepreneurial skills in the biosciences sector. It
also breathed life into the Open Innovation Solution
Exchange, a web-based platform that connects
innovators with solution seekers to tackle service
delivery in government and increase competitiveness
in the private sector.
Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology
(MEST): MEST Incubator programme
One of the most famous educational programmes
and incubator hubs operating in the West African
region, MEST offers entrepreneurs sourced from
Ghana and Nigeria, a structured, intensive, full-time
12-month programme. During the programme students
(Entrepreneurs-In-Training - EITs) are given access
to training and mentoring – covering all aspects of
business management (finance, resourcing, sales,
and marketing), specific computing and software
development courses, and soft skills too.
The organisation has a significant amount of financial
backing and has gained international attention
for its work. Of particular mention, though not
necessarily a focus of the enterprise, has been the
increasing number of women who have participated
in its programme. In its 2015 cohort, eight of its 30
EITs were women.
Toward the end of the programme, EITs form teams
to solve a pertinent problem, which they must take to
the market. The most promising, determined through
a pitch to the MEST board, are invited to enter the
MEST incubator which comes with seed funding for
their business. One business which has come from the
programme is:
• MeQasa
A property search engine allowing users to find vacant
spaces for rent or to purchase, for both residential
and business purposes around Ghana.
45

REFERENCES
ESTABLISHED PLAYERS (SANGK)
1. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
2. World Data Bank – Most recent values (MRV)
3.World Bank - Denotes the percentage of respondents who report having an account at a bank or another type
of financial institution; having a debit card in their own name; receiving wages, government transfers, or
payments for agricultural products into an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months (% age 15+).
4. Pew Research Centre (2015): Cell Phones in Africa ~ Communication Lifeline
5. South African Treasury Department: 2015 Budget Review: Rebalancing the economy for growth
6. Brookings Institute (2015): The 2015 Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project Report ~ Measuring
Progress on Financial Access and Usage
7. Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (2014): 2014 JCSE ICT Skills Survey
8. Telkom Business Blog post (2015): ICT Skills Gap: How Can We Tackle this Challenge? Available on: 23/04/2015
(http://www.telkombusinessblog.co.za/?p=2163)
9. Mlitwa, N. and Koranteng, K. (2013), Integration of ICT Into Curricula in Western Cape Schools: The Activity
Theory Perspective, The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol. 9, No. 4
10. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
11. World Bank - Denotes the percentage of respondents who report having an account at a bank or another
type of financial institution; having a debit card in their own name; receiving wages, government transfers, or
payments for agricultural products into an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months (% age 15+).
12 Pew Research Centre (2015): Cell Phones in Africa ~ Communication Lifeline
13. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – OECD (2015), African Economic Outlook:
Nigeria (2015); From 6.7 percent to account for roughly 15.2 percent of total government revenue.
14. Johnson, O. (2015); Federal Ministry of Communication Technology; 4th ICT Industry Stakeholders Forum ~
Connected for Growth Presentation
15. Okafor, E. (2013); ‘Reforms in the Nigerian Banking Sector and Strategies for Managing Human Resources
Challenges’; European Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 5, No. 18.
16. Okwuke, E. (2014); ‘Cisco laments dearth of ICT Graduates in Nigeria’; Daily Independent, 14th July. Available
from: http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/07/cisco-laments-dearth-ict-graduates-nigeria [Accessed 4-10-15]
17. Adepetun, A. (2015); ‘Dearth of IT skills in Nigeria worries experts’; The Guardian, 22nd April. Available from:
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18. Onwe, B. (2013); ‘The Nigerian Financial market and the Challenges of Information technology-based
operational Services’. Arabian Journal of Business and management review. Vol. 2, No. 6.
19. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
20. World Bank - Denotes the percentage of respondents who report having an account at a bank or another
type of financial institution; having a debit card in their own name; receiving wages, government transfers, or
46

payments for agricultural products into an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months (% age 15+).
21. Pew Research Centre (2015): Cell Phones in Africa ~ Communication Lifeline
22. Ghanaian Ministry of Education, (2013); Basic Education Information; Available from: http://www.ghana.
gov.gh/index.php/gov-t-projects/ministry-of-education [Accessed on: 07-11-15]
23. Government of Ghana ~ Ministry of Communication; Project Document; Available from: http://www-wds.
worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2005/11/15/000012009_20051115145331/Rendered/
PDF/34330.pdf [Accessed 07-08-15]
24. Botsio, M. (2013); ‘Moving Towards a More Financially Inclusive Ghana’; Available from: http://cfi-blog.
org/2013/07/18/moving-towards-a-more-financially-inclusive-ghana/ [Accessed: 7-11-15]
25. Ghanaian National Communications Authority (2015); ‘Mobile Voice Subscription Trends For June, 2015’
Available on: http://www.nca.org.gh/40/105/Market-Share-Statistics.html [Accessed on: 7-11-15]
26. Appiah Acquaye, N. (2015); ‘MTN Ghana holds 2nd Mobile Money forum in Accra’ Available from: http://
www.biztechafrica.com/article/mtn-ghana-holds-2nd-mobile-money-forum-accra/10462/#.Vi-ksfnhDIU
[Accessed: 7-11-15]
27. Takyi-Boadu, C. (2013); ‘Hope City Project Relocated’; 23rd May, Available from: http://www.modernghana.
com/news/465294/1/hope-city-project-relocated.html [Assessed: 7-11-15]
28. Acquah, B. Y. S. Status of implementation of the ICT Curriculum in Ghanaian Basic Schools (2012) Journal of
Arts and Humanities (JAH), Volume 1, No – 3, December
29. Opuni Opoku, N. (2014); ‘Disconnect between education, industry cause of high unemployment – Tony
Aidoo’; 13th Jan.; Available from: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/january-13th/disconnect-betweeneducation-industry-cause-of-high-unemployment-tony-aidoo.php
[Assessed: 7-11-15]
39. Ashiadey, B. (2015); ‘Academia must rethink curricular... to bridge gap within industry’; 19th Aug. Available
on: http://thebftonline.com/business/education/14975/Academia-must-rethink-curricular-to-bridge-gapwith-industry.html%5d
[Accessed: 7-11-15]
31. Omidyar Network, (2013); Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Africa: Understanding Africa’s Challenges to
Creating Opportunity-driven Entrepreneurship
32. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
33. World Bank - Denotes the percentage of respondents who report having an account at a bank or another
type of financial institution; having a debit card in their own name; receiving wages, government transfers, or
payments for agricultural products into an account at a financial institution in the past 12 months (% age 15+).
34. Pew Research Centre (2015): Cell Phones in Africa ~ Communication Lifeline
35. The East African Marine System (TEAMS): TEAM’s vision is to become the “leading provider of cost effective
international fibre optic bandwidth in Africa”
36. E-government is defined on the website as “E-government generally involves using ICTs to transform
both back-end and front-end government processes and provide services, information and knowledge to
all government customers that is the public, businesses, government employees and other government
agencies.” Available from: http://www.information.go.ke/?p=292 [Assessed: 7-11-15]
37. Ndung’u, N., Thugge, K., and Otieno, O. (2009); Unlocking the Future Potential for Kenya: The Vision 2030;
Available on: http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2009-edia/papers/509-owino.pdf [Assessed: 7-11-15]
38. Sterling Capital Limited (2015); Kenya’s Sector Outlook 2015
39. Herbling, D. (2014); ‘KRA ranks Safaricom top taxpayer for seventh year’; Business Daily; 21st Oct. Available
from: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/KRA-ranks-Safaricom-top-taxpayer-/-/539546/2494830/-/
fi7bshz/-/index.html; [Assessed: 7-11-15]
47

40. Financial Times, (2015); ‘The Africans who got it alone to cut risk, not increase it’; 11th Sept; Available from:
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000175990/the-africans-who-go-it-alone-to-cut-risknot-increase-it
[Assessed on: 7-11-15]
41. United Nations Children’s Fund – (UNICEF), (2014); A (Private) Public Space ~ Examining the Use and Impact
of Digital and Social Media Among Adolescents in Kenya.
42. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); (2015) Information and
Communication Technology in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa ~ A comparative analysis of basic
e-readiness in schools.
43. Ogembo, J., Ngugi, B., and Pelowski, M., (2012); Computerizing Primary Schools in Rural Kenya: Outstanding
Challenges and Possible Solutions; The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries; Vol.52
RISING STARS
1. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, (2012); Population Projections 2012.
2. World Data Bank (2015): Population, total.
3. World Data Bank (2015): Population, total.
4. The Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan African 2015 (GSMA)
5. Relevant sections for the purpose of this report include: the provision of business investor information,
provision of business loans, and fine collections amongst other services.
6. Relevant sections for the purpose of this report include: motor insurance renewal, collection of traffic
fines, and online ticket booking.
7. Fekade, B. (2013); ‘Ethio ICT Village to embrace 15 companies’; 23rd March; The Reporter; Available from:
http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/news-headlines/item/253-ethio-ict-village-to-embrace-15-
companies [Accessed on: 8-11-15]
8. National Bank of Ethiopia, (2012); Licensing and Supervision of The Business of Financial Institution ~
Regulation of Mobile and Agent Banking Servicers
9. The World Bank, (2015); The Little Data Book on Financial Inclusion ~ Global Findex Database 2014
10. Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAMPUS) ~ Population clock, (2015); Accessible from:
http://www.capmas.gov.eg/?lang=2 [Accessed on: 8-11-15]
11. World Data Bank (2012): Population, total.
12. World Data Bank (2012): Population, total.
13. Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), (2015); Subscriber penetration figures ~ The Mobile Economy:
Arab States.
14. World Bank Data (2014); Gross Domestic Product ~ GDP.
15. Cillers, J., Schunemann, J., and Moyer, J., (2015); ‘Power and Influence in Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and
South Africa’; African Futures Paper 14, March 2015
16. Egypt: Central bank conducts financial inclusion survey, (2015); 27th Sept.; MEIR eDaily; Available at: http://
www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/33901/Type/middleeast/Egypt-Centralbank-conducts-financial-inclusion-survey
[Accessed on: 8-11-15]
17. MasterCard Press release, (2015); Available at: http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/egyptiangovernment-and-mastercard-collaborate-to-extend-financial-inclusion-to-54-million-citizens-throughdigital-national-id-program-2/
[Accessed on: 8-11-15]
18. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
48

19. Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, (2014); Angolan Population Consensus 2014 ; Available from : http://www.
ine.gov.ao/xportal/xmain?xpid=ine [Accessed on : 8-11-15]
20. World Data Bank (2014): Population, total.
21. BuddeComm, (2015); Angola – Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband – Statistics and Analyses.
22. United Nations ~ Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Population Division, (2014); Population Facts;
August 2015, no. 2014/2
23. Awad, M. (2012); ‘Angola aiming for telecommunications satellite in 2014’; IT News Africa; 20th November
24. The Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan African 2015 (GSMA)
25. Deloitte, (2014); Angola 2014 Banking Review: Annual performance of the sector in Angola.
26. World Data Bank (2014): Account (% age 15+).
FINTECH (MFS) REGULATIONS
1. Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A); (2012); Morocco: Financial Sector Profile; Available from: www.
mfw4a.org/morocco/financial-sector-profile.html [Accessed on: 8-11-15]
2. BuddeComm, (2015); Morocco – Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband – Statistics and Analyses.
3. The objective of the project was “a comprehensive package of technical assistance and capability building
aimed at supporting the new regulatory framework of payment service providers” in Morocco. Proposal
Document to Coordination Unit (November 2013)
4. ‘Société Anonyme’ (S.A) and Société Anonyme à Responsabilité Limitée (S.A.R.L) respectively.
5. Chakravorti, B.; (2014); The Hidden Costs of Cash, Harvard Business Review; Available from: https://hbr.
org/2014/06/the-hidden-costs-of-cash [Accessed on: 8-11-15]
6. Firpo, J., El Sayed, C., Breul, P., (2011); International Finance Corporation – IFC Mobile Money Scoping, Country
Report ~ Egypt
7. Wahome. M, (2008); Michuki: Probe Cash transfer; Daily National; 9th December
8. Tumusiime-Muteile, E. (2015) ; ‘Effective regulations will further enable ICTs to promote financial inclusion’;
Speech by Governor of the Bank of Uganda ~ Digital Impact Awards Africa
9. Commonly referred to collectively as ‘telecos’
10. Also known as ‘Banque Nationale du Rwanda (BNR)’ as most legislation is given in French, Kinyarwanda, and
English: the three official languages of the nation.
11. See art. 2 (3) n° 06/2012 of 21/06/2012 “bank, a nonbank financial institution or a microfinance institution within
the meaning of the Laws governing those institutions and duly supervised by the Central Bank”
12. See art. 21 n° 06/2012 of 21/06/2012 “Financial institutions and mobile network operations shall be interconnected
to offer services to virtually all banked and unbanked” allowing the easy transfer of money between
different providers.
13. See art. 2 (8) n° 06/2012 of 21/06/2012 “any entity providing services enabling cash deposits and withdrawals,
execution of Payment Transactions... Money Remittance and any other services functional to the transfer
of money”
14. http://www.afi-global.org/sites/default/files/publications/tanzania-national-financial-inclusionframework-2014-2016.pdf
15. Paper Delivered at the EFInA by Emmanuel Obaigbona (Regulatory Frameworks for Mobile Payments
Services in Nigeria)
49

MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES COLLABORATIONS
1. Obulutsa, G. (2015) ; Kenya’s Equity Bank starts mobile pay service to challenge Safaricom. Reuters; 20th
Jul. Available from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/kenya-eqty-bnk-idUSL5N1001P220150720
[Accessed: 10-11-15]
2. Equity Banking Group (2015); Investor Briefing& Performance Q3 2015 Performance (Oct. 2015)
3. Special Correspondent (2015); East Africa: Safaricom Increases Charges to Equitel Customers; 26 Aug.
Available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201508261340.html [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
4. Makakane, M. (2014); Collaboration between Alliance Insurance, Vodacom M-Pesa, and Econet Ecocash, a
smart move towards making financial services more accessible to farmers in remote areas; 4th Mar.; The
Silo; Available at: http://www.thesilo.co.ls/collaboration-between-alliance-insurance-vodacom-m-pesaand-econet-ecocash-a-smart-move-towards-making-financial-services-more-accessible-to-farmers-inremote-areas/
[Accessed on: 10-11-15]
5. GSMA: The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015
6. It was rebranded in 2009, following the Acquisition of Jataayu Software as Comviva.
7. The UEMOA countries consist of: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea
Bissau.
SECONDARY EFFECTS OF FINTECH IN AFRICA
1. GSMA: Taxation and the growth of mobile in East Africa (2009)
2. GSMA: Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa (2013)
3. Ibid.
4. Zollman, J., and Cojocaru, L. (2015); Cashlite report: Are we there yet? Rethinking The Evolution of Electronic
Payments in Kenyan Based On Evidence in the Kenyan and South African Financial Diaries. Nairobi, Kenya:
FSD Kenya
5. Jack, W., and Suri, T. (2011); Mobile money: The Economics of M-Pesa; NBER Papers in Productivity, Innovation
and Entrepreneurship
6. Walker, E.J, and Adams, C.S. (2015); Mobile Money and Monetary Policy in East African Countries; University
of Oxford.
7. It should be noted that their study focussed primarily on East African countries that had adopted MFS.
8. Aron, J. and Muellbauer, J. (2015); Does mobile money cause inflation: Evidence from inflation models for
Uganda. [VOX Draft]
9. Aker, J. C., and Mbiti, I.M., (2010); «Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa; Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 24(3): 207-32.
10. InterMedia, 2013, “Mobile Money in Tanzania: Use, Barriers and Opportunities”, Available at: http://www.
intermedia.org/mobile-money-in-tanzania-use-barriers-opportunity-2/ [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
11. NBER: Working Paper Series; Mobile Money: The Economics of M-Pesa
12. Campos, N. F., and Coricelli, F. (2010); How financial development can maximise the impact of social protection
policies in low-income countries; Available from: http://www.voxeu.org/article/how-cash-transfers-boostfinancial-development
[Accessed on: 10-11-15]
13. Ibid.
50

14. Aker, J. C., and Mbiti, I.M., (2010); «Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa; Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 24(3): 207-32.
15. Ndiwalana, A., Morawczynski, O., and Popov, O. (2012); Mobile Money Use in Uganda: A preliminary Study:
Found nearly 70 percent (69.6) reported sharing ownership of their mobile handsets.
16. Economides, N. and Jeziorski, P. (2015) Mobile Money in Tanzania; Available from: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/
networks/Mobile_Money.pdf [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
17. In this study 400 shillings extra per kilometre
18. Etukuri, C. And Masaba, S. (2013); Who is killing mobile money agents?; 22 May; New Vision; Available from:
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/643042-who-is-killing-mobile-money-agents.html [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
19. Helix – Institute of Digital Finance (2015); Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Kenya Country Report 2014
20. Figures are the weighted average of the first three choices then indexed between both years to allow
better comparisons.
21. Mukumuza, K. M, and Ainebyoona, E, (2015); MTN denies Shs21b mobile money fraud; 23rd Mar.; Daily Monitor;
Available from: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/MTN-denies-Shs21b-mobile-money-fraud/-
/688334/2662424/-/5cv7qdz/-/index.html [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
22. Asare-Donkoh, F. (2015); Mobile Money system in Ghana may be teh next big challenge in dealing with money
laundering – Thompson Essel; Available from: http://www.eyeghana.com/mobile-money-system-in-ghanamay-be-the-next-big-challenge-in-dealing-with-money-laundering-thompson-essel
[Accessed on: 10-11-15]
23. Jack, W., and Suri, T. (2011); Mobile money: The Economics of M-Pesa; NBER Papers in Productivity, Innovation
and Entrepreneurship
24. Central Bank of Kenya & FSD Kenya (2013); FinAccess National Survey 2013: Profiling developments in financial
access and usage in Kenya
25. Ibid.
26. Chilumpha, F. And Msowoya, N. (2015); Malawi takes key step to advance digital payments and drive inclusion
growth; 30th April; Better-Than-Cash; Available from: https://www.betterthancash.org/news/mediareleases/malawi-takes-key-step-to-advance-digital-payments-and-drive-inclusive-growth
[Accessed on:
10-11-15]
27. Digital payments are defined “as a programme related payment using an e-payment process and not be
physical cash or checks” (Digitizing Payments for USAID Beneficiaries in Uganda, 2014. pp. 88)
28. USAID, (2014); Digitizing Payment for USAID Beneficiaries in Uganda – Pilot Report; Available from: https://
www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Digitizing_Payments_for_USAID%29Beneficiaries_in_
Uganda.pdf [Accessed on: 10-11-15]
29. Eze, A. and Maduekwe, O. (2013); Phone for Farmers and Mobile Money Initiative; 7th Feb.; This Day Live;
Available from: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/phone-for-farmers-and-mobile-money-initiative/138703
[Accessed on: 10-11-15]
51

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