CO-AUTHORS: TIM KELLY, AXEL RIFON
Mogadishu–Somalia, September 2016. Photo: Altai Consulting.
Mobile payments herald financial opportunity in Somalia. But for whom? And for how long? If Somalia’s telecommunications sector is the locomotive driving the economy, mobile money is the highway, transferring value and extending access to the economic playing field, nowadays at a rapid pace.
Somalia’s mobile money services, such as Hormuud’s EVC+ or Telesom’s Zaad, have been acting as a virtual, dollarized currency since their inception. However, mobile money usage, and the extent of the dollarization and virtualization of the currency it represents, is actually far higher than previously thought.
Research carried out throughout 2016, conducted with Altai Consulting through the World Bank’s Somalia ICT Sector Support Project and spanning all economic zones and Federally Ministered States, finds that it is the current mobile money ecosystem that achieves all this, and more.
A stark example is the prevalence of mobile money usage (73%) compared to the 15% of the population who have accounts with formal banks. And the use of mobile money to transfer incoming international remittances domestically reflects the strong links that exist between mobile network operators and money transfer businesses (MTBs).
This is a substantially different environment than telecommunications in countries across the rest of the African continent, which have been dominated by incoming multi-national companies such as India’s Bharti Telecom or France’s Orange.
Given the complexity of operating in the Somali political environment, investment in telecommunications has been almost exclusively led by Somalis, both from the diaspora and within the country. As a result, the ICT sector has been able to leverage Somali social and business networks, and has created products uniquely suited to the Somali context.
Figure 1: Somalia Mobile Money Ecosystem Mapping
*Mobile Money in Somalia: Household Survey and Market Analysis, WBG 2017
Streets and storefronts in urban spaces and rural villages alike see customers using mobile money for purchasing everyday items, such as groceries, according to Egal Abdiwali, “Mobile Money, Why Somalia Should Take Charge of the New Financial Revolution.”
But, as the Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmaajo” prioritizes security, service delivery, and strengthening collaboration with the private sector, the mobile money sector increasingly finds itself caught between policy reform and private sector growth.
The 2016 research finds 88% of Somalis above the age of 16 own at least 1 SIM card, while 83% of SIM card owners use mobile money.
Mobile money services are often used for cash-in transactions or deposits of eMoney to mobile money accounts, cash-out transactions, and cash withdrawals. They are also used for bills, salary receipts, and merchant payment transactions (of up to 5 times a month) typically ranging between US$20-US$200 each.
The ecosystem is already robust, with nearly two-thirds of users choosing to keep funds in their mobile accounts rather than cashing them out. Large shares in the value mix of disbursements and bill and merchant payments, suggest an expanding ecosystem as increasing numbers of institutions and businesses start using mobile money.
To read more click here
Source: Word Bank
