There are more mobile money accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than in any other region in the world in 2020. The region accounts for 558 million of the total 1.2 billion accounts recorded in 2020, representing 43 percent of all registered accounts.
According to the latest GSMA report, the 1.2 billion represents a 13 percent growth from the previous year and the fastest growth was in markets where governments provided significant pandemic relief to their citizens.
The total transaction value also grew by 22 percent globally in 2020 to reach $767 billion out of which $490 billion went to the sub-Saharan Africa region. The growth in value was the first time the mobile money industry was processing over $2 billion in a day and has seen over double value since 2017.
“We see that mobile money is a powerful tool for expanding the financial inclusion of women in low and middle-income countries,” John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA said in a statement. “This report, however, found that across markets women are still 33 percent less likely than men to have a mobile money account. The GSMA and its members are committed to closing this gender gap by addressing the barriers that prevent women from accessing and using mobile financial services.”
While West Africa has the most Live Services – active mobile money operators in the world, East Africa still dominates the number of accounts, active accounts, the volume and value of mobile money transactions.
Southern Africa, however, has grown the fastest at 24 percent in the past year. The GSMA report showed that by December 2020, 64 mobile money providers – roughly one in five – had over one million monthly active accounts. This is up from 30 providers in 2016.
The researchers at GSMA attribute the steady growth to customers using mobile money in more advanced ways and in all aspects of daily life.
“This marks a change from the early days of mobile money when the main use cases were bill payments and P2P payments in the form of occasional domestic remittances. It also demonstrates that the industry is having a profound and lasting impact – mobile money users are becoming more financially included and moving away from the margins of the financial system. In contrast, infrequent use may imply that a user is simply a recipient of remittances and not reaping the full benefits of mobile money,” the researchers said.
– Businessday