PCM Vol.1 - Issue 7
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By Jide Akindele<br />
November 30, 2015<br />
Thought Leaders Corner<br />
global<br />
business<br />
This is the third edition of Jide Akindele’s series<br />
focusing on the developments in the payment<br />
market in Sub-Sahara Africa<br />
Unlocking Mobile Wallet Payments<br />
in Sub-Sahara Africa<br />
With the ubiquity of mobile phones<br />
across Sub-Sahara Africa, it is<br />
apparent that many lives have<br />
improved on the communication<br />
level. More and more people across the<br />
continent are gaining access to the internet<br />
additionally enriching themselves with<br />
information from across the globe. According<br />
to a recent GSMA report as at December 2014,<br />
Sub-Saharan Africa has 146 million registered<br />
wallet accounts of which 61.9 million are active<br />
accounts.<br />
The growth of mobile wallet payments is fuelled<br />
by the limitations of other payment methods<br />
and the accessibility to majority of the Sub-<br />
Saharan population.<br />
The Keys to unlocking adoptability<br />
Interoperability: In the West African region most<br />
of the Mobile wallet rollouts have been closed<br />
looped, with continuous fighting for dominance<br />
amongst providers, the up take has not been<br />
as dynamic as predicted considering the total<br />
population. Lessons from East Africa particularly<br />
Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda show that there is a<br />
clear advantage in interoperability, and that this<br />
is a recipe for growth and stimulation of mobile<br />
wallet payments across the region. There is<br />
more value in being able transact through other<br />
providers as illustrated in (Figure 1). Results have<br />
been far reaching in the 4 countries that have<br />
stepped up to the plate, transaction volumes<br />
have risen and continue to grow.<br />
© SES S.A<br />
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