Today in Kenya, 7.9 million mobile connections operate without access to basic energy services.  Combining off-grid power sources with machine-to-machine communication and mobile money services has started a revolution.  The first stop at Safaricom’s dealership in Kisumu town showed off the partnership between Kenya’s leading mobile operator and M-KOPA, an affordable and high quality solar energy solution. The M-PESA agent network helps overcome distribution challenges to more rural and remote villages.  Sales of improved energy services were clearly reaching far up in to the Mwanza district.

Access Energy was hard at work in their workshop outside Kisumu to deliver a service of micro-units of energy by micro-payments. Their aim: “Bottom-of-the-pyramid access to affordable, grid-type energy services, anywhere.” Mobile operators may see benefits from improved access to phone charging for their customers, but the impact is going to be broader.

Our most remote stop was at Sidonge, on the border of Uganda to see the Rural Village Energy (RVE) Hub KUDURA sustainable development solution.  World leading technology inside a custom-made shipping container sits in a green field, overlooked in the distance by two mobile phone masts.   The Hub is a number of discrete but integrated sub-systems: a Solar Photovoltaic plant, a Biogas and organic fertiliser plant, a Water Purification plant and a Central Monitoring system for oversight of the hub by a remote centre.  A mini-grid is about to be scaled up to power 25 households from the initial 12.  The first phase allowed for a better understanding of customer requirements and the capabilities of the system to improve service delivery.  The next steps could bring reliable and renewable energy for a mobile mast.

Today in Kenya nearly 3 million more students are enrolled in primary school than in 2003 and according to USAID, that has also created a dearth of teachers, inadequate textbooks and overrun school facilities.  Mobile services have been integral to Bridge International Academies’ “Academy-in-a-Box” model which has reengineered the lifecycle of basic education in Kenya, including teaching, communicating with parents and managing each academy.  All payments from pupils and to academy staff or contractors are made via M-PESA. But the impact was only really understood once we saw children engaged in classrooms and in the playground at Bandani Academy, in a poor area next to Kisumu Airport.

M4D and MECS look forward to the next field trip!

Uganda is a highly competitive market for mobile money, with over 9 million registered clients and six mobile money deployments. How would this policy, if eventually enacted, affect mobile money customers? We can draw some hypotheses based on what happened in Kenya where a similar taxation was introduced earlier this year.

In January 2012 the Kenyan government introduced a 10% excise duty on the fees charged on money transfer services in Kenya. In February Safaricom passed it on its 19 million customers increasing proportionally the fees for most of the M-Pesa transactions. What was the impact of this increase of the mobile money transfers?

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya show that mobile phone based transactions across all networks were worth KShs 142.653 billion. In February, the value dropped to KShs 141.126 billion. This fell again at the end of the quarter to KShs 134.446 in March. This month on month drop does not reflect what happened in the same period last year, when the value increased month on month significantly in Q1. This drop in value is a slight concern as it coincided with M-PESA‘s increase in charges due to the government’s introduction of the new tax. In April the value of the transactions moved through the mobile money platforms started to increase again (KShs 142.609), but it is still below the figure of three months earlier.

Mobile money and MNOs have contributed significantly to increase the number of access points to financial services in Uganda, is helping to achieve the financial inclusion goal, and is contributing towards greater government efficiency (by using mobile technology for the payment of public employees’ salaries and to make social payments, and also by reducing the cost of cash management). If the proposed tax will be applied to mobile money services, it is unlikely that the providers would decide to leave retail prices unchanged and to absorb this extra cost entirely themselves, because this would significantly impact profitability and so we would expect to see a decrease in investments and development of products and distribution networks. The burden of the tax will be probably reflected in a proportional increase of the price of mobile money services for the customer. The proposed 10% tax on mobile money transactions in Uganda risk being a headwind against the development of such a promising nascent market.

The event was very successful, with 37 delegates representing 18 different industry stakeholders, who engaged in a lively discussion around green telecom issues.

The day-long event showcased MNO’s initiatives on green telecom deployments, the Government’s role in promoting green telecoms as well as new technology developments and business innovation for the Bangladeshi market. The day was divided into two sessions: The morning session looked at “where the Bangladesh market stand with regards to green deployments?” while the afternoon break-out session focussed “how to achieve the 5% green sites target by 2015?”

The event kicked off with a presentation of GPM’s Bangladesh Market Analysis report by Ali Imron, GPM Asia Project Manager, introducing the telecoms’ outlook in green power deployments and the opportunity for this market. Michael Kuhner, CEO of Robi, then gave a welcome speech to all the participants.

MNOs Present Green Telecom Deployment and Energy Efficiency Solutions

Asif Rahman, EVP Infrastructure Division of Robi, introduced the operator’s power management strategies: today up to 37% of their Network OPEX is allocated to energy costs (power and fuel). He presented the audience with the roadmap for new energy efficiency initiatives and green deployments, and raised the discussion around the question of infrastructure site sharing. Robi is now forming a team dedicated to infrastructure sharing for Bangladesh’s telecom market.

The following presentation by Ashim Chowdurry, Head of Network Operation of Airtel, compared energy cost consumption of fossil based solutions and Solar-DG hybrid site solutions. Airtel currently targets to green 30 new green for the next green deployment and are beginning a “Base Station modernization” programme to equip 1,850 sites with new type Base Stations, allowing Airtel to reduce power consumption in their network.

Technology Development

Deeye Energy, a storage technology company, opened the discussion on new technology developments. Purushottam Moga, Deeya’s General Manager for SEA and ANZA, discussed the issue of scaling grid storage and flow battery technology, and compared the benefits of conventional battery and flow battery technology.

Shah Md. Sazzad Hossain, CEO of Eltek Bangladesh, then presented its TCO model, a model which provides an answer to the Bangladeshi telecom market’s energy efficiency issues.

Ferdous Mottakin, GPM Programme Manager of GSMA, closed the technology development session providing the audience with the latest updates on fuel cell deployments across the world, and more specifically in Bangladesh. He highlighted the benefits of fuel cell energy compared to conventional solutions and raised the question of how to tackle fuel supply chain challenges.

The Government’s Role in Renewable Energy

Lt. Col. Md. Rakibul Hassan, Director System & Service of BTRC, shared his view on the way in which the government can support the deployment of green telecoms in Bangladesh: encouraging to MNOs to convert to Renewable Energy sources in order to make savings on their operational cost, reducing their energy costs while creating sustainable businesses, minimizing environment impact and improve communities’ living standards. He also mentioned the Government dialogue with telecom stakeholders on strategies to green the network by 5% in the next 5 years and of 10% in the next 10 years.

Business Innovation

Taro Araya, CEO of BMGP presented the company’s CAPEX and OPEX business innovation models for the telecom sector to achieve energy savings and green solutions. BMGP encourages MNOs to move to an outsourcing model in order to resolve the lack of capital issue and believes in the benefits for MNOs of energy outsourcing model.

Break-out Session Discussion

The morning break out session focused on the status of green deployments in the telecom sector. The result of discussion is as follows:

• MNOs are interested in green deployments as they enable OPEX savings
• MNOs still feel that there is a lack of green solutions offered by vendors in Bangladesh
• MNOs think that they would implement more green sites if the cost structure of green solutions was more competitive than that of fossil based solutions
• One of the challenges to achieving scale of green deployments is the tax on batteries part
• From an investor’s point of view, as long as the business model is solid, there will be no issue for the vendor/MNO to receive investment

During the second part of the break-out session, attendees discussed how to achieve 5% of green sites by 2015. The outcome from the discussion is as follows:

• MNOs suggested that the target was achievable, as it is in line with their strategy for deploying new sites in rural areas
• MNOs realise that renewable energies are the most adapted solution for off-grid sites’ conditions
• MNOs need more clarity on the regulations related to the ‘green terminology’. Green is most often understood as renewable energy or energy efficiency
• Some MNOs are actively deploying green solutions not only to achieve 5% target but to acquire more saving on the OPEX costs for their network

The audience also talked about the visibility of the different green technical solutions the country can choose from.

Several action points came out of the Working Group as well as key takeaways:

• New green technology needs to be introduced and trialled by the telecom industry in Bangladesh
• A definitive “green” definition needs to be outlined by the government’s regulatory body Does “green” refer to energy efficiency or renewable technology?
• Battery, as one component of a green solution, is not free of tax, whereas other green components have been exempt of tax. The government needs to establish a new incentive mechanism for battery or battery components to support green deployments in the country.
• There is a need to create a green committee within the telecom industry that would consist of multiple stakeholders who would formulate and suggest green strategies for the telecom industry to the government

The video training on HOMER focuses on the key aspects of using HOMER Software for designing and analysing renewable energy solutions for telecom tower sites. This is very useful for MNOs and Tower Companies to understand the key design elements to optimize green power design and thereby optimize CAPEX required for deploying green power on their network.

The training is divided into four modules each focusing on a specific aspect of renewable energy solution design for telecom sites.

Module 1 – Site Selection and Energy Optimization, focuses on the key parameters to consider while selecting a telecom site for green power design and deployment. The module also details the various energy efficiency technics to optimize the load requirement of a particular telecom site in order to prepare a site for green power design and deployment.

Module 2 – Green Power design using HOMER Software, introduces HOMER software and walks you through the step-by-step process of using the software for designing a renewable power solution for a telecom site. The module also explains the data inputs required to complete the power system definition in order to run the design simulation. At the end of this module, the use will be able to define the power system and run simulation for design output.

Module 3 – Solution analysis and Selection, takes a deeper look into the simulation output of HOMER and explains the various parameters as part of solution selection. It also looks at the technical output of a solution to explain in detail each element of the power system. At the end of this module, the user will be able to analyse and select an optimum renewable solution for the site.

Module 4 – Business Case Analysis, focuses on analysing the financial feasibility of the solution designed and selected in previous modules. The module uses a excel sheet to demonstrate the business case of the renewable energy solution comparing it with the base case of diesel based solution. At the end of this module, the use will be able to develop a business case for the renewable solution to understand its feasibility vis-à-vis a base case scenario such as diesel based solution.

The four modules above touch upon basic concepts of using HOMER for designing renewable power solution for telecom applications. For a more advanced training or any further questions on the training and support, please get in touch with the GPM team at greenpower@gsma.com

We are living in a new world. This world is driven by connection to one another and data that we generate. As a result we have opportunities to collaborate and find innovative solutions to long standing challenges. A key ingredient to this collaboration is open data. Understanding where we are now and what we have done to date is crucial in understanding what to do next. This empirical open collaborative process is an opportunity that open data presents. It is one of the reasons why Barack Obama issued an Executive Order — Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information.

Accurate well maintained open data shows us where we are now and invites collaboration and participation in getting to where we want to be.

What is open data?

“Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.” OpenDefinition.org

• open data is a list of pharmaceuticals accessed by procurement officers in Southern Africa
• open data is the Geolocation of schools, hospitals and health clinics
• open data is the Geolocation of places and things in Openstreetmap

For social change to take place technology needs to be appropriate and rooted in local knowledge.  Sokari Ekine – SMS Uprising

Primary Health Care organisations working in communities and engaging citizens through Health Care specialists have insights and knowledge regarding the needs of the community. These insights together with the open data collected through a mobile device can spark the development of valuable products and services by social entrepreneurs. The insight regarding what is needed is what guides development and the focus of open data. #opendatademand has been established.

How do we spark engagement by Social Entrepreneurs?

Social Entrepreneurs can be incentivised through social bonds. A social bond works in a similar way to Kickstarter. A Bond is paid out when the social target is reached. Let’s say the number of women in an area who have enrolled their children at the local school. A baseline is established and then the intervention is made. The number is measured and when reached the bond is paid.

When you combine this with an open development approach where organisations share knowledge and development progress you have a potent combination for communities to act.

Recently I attended the Global Conference on Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Development Impact #engagevoices

Some of the learnings from the day included the following barriers to citizen engagement:

• Citizens lack incentives to participate – bring on the social bond and allow me to engage
• Citizens lack meaningful opportunity to participate – allow me to participate through my phone
• Governments lack capacity to listen – make it easy for us to see what you are saying
• Governments lack incentives to change – show us how you improve our business case to deliver services

The Internet and social media allows us to share knowledge and insight at the click of a button. Social organisations sharing their knowledge and insights allow social entrepreneurs to engage. By linking Social Bonds to development outcomes social entrepreneurs can find innovative methods to make use of open data and achieve development goals and the needs of the community instead of waiting for service delivery from the Government and aid organisations.

When Primary Health Care organisations release service and outcome data it can be linked and analysed in ways that will better inform the delivery of care and services. Patients, academics, data intermediaries and other organisations can access the data and make comparisons that enable more informed choices.

To achieve this collaboration, organisations need to release their data under an open data licence. Once the data is published under an open data license it is interoperable with other open data.

A great example of this is that of the The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Using credible medicines forecasting models and open data on pricing and suppliers, CHAI has been able to pre-negotiate significantly lower pricing deals on antiretroviral (ARV) medicines that countries are able to access. This information is being used to set ceiling prices for the South Africa ARV Tender and this is expected to reduce the total cost of ARVs to the South African Government by up to $100 million per annum. By publishing open data the ARV purchasing officers of Southern African countries were able to achieve economies of scale and a competitive market price.

Opportunities for mHealth

Primary health care organisations that share knowledge and open data and development progress regarding the communities they serve have an opportunity to:

• identify social needs
• improve service delivery
• support innovation
• create employment

Next steps

1. As a Primary health care organisation get an open data policy established
2. Identify what you should/could be publishing and make it available
3. Define your objectives through a development dashboard and publish your results
4. Establish a Social Bond element to the organisation that incentivises social entrepreneurs

As June Jordan wrote in her poem for South African women We are the ones we’ve been waiting for

Photos: Courtesy of the author.

The first day was spent with the mFarmer grantees and we had consortium members from HandyGo, Tigo Tanzania, airtel Kenya and Orange Mali who shared their experience and challenges of launching Agri VAS. On the second day mAgri experts from 4 continents and 14 countries gathered to share their experiences; and the third day was spent getting feedback about the new airtel Kenya service “Sauti ya Mkulima” with farmers who were attending an agriculture extension clinic in Embu run by CABI and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Here are some of the topics that I found most interesting from last week’s events.

Partnerships

At the event we had folks representing research agencies, ministry of agriculture, social entrepreneurs, VAS providers, content partners, donor agencies and mobile operators from across Africa. The mAgri team often talk about strong partnerships being a key part of developing Agri VAS and the event showcased many examples of these types of partnerships that have formed with a common goal to develop services for small holders. As with any public-private partnership, whilst there has been success, it was recognised that it was not without challenges. We heard about partners’ differences in contract types and payment schedules, available resources and short and long-term ownership – all these things need to be worked through and flexibility is required from all the types of organisations as they develop these new types of partnerships.

Content and service development

The debate about content has evolved from understanding “how to do it” to “how to do it better”. The first theme of questions was around the content management process – who are the best people to manage, own and quality assure content?; how to make the process more efficient and cost effective?; how to align with extension practices?. The second theme centred on service improvement and the service providers talked about how they are setting up the necessary databases and analytics to track usage behaviour and create a strategy for on-going service and content improvement. We also debated how to create content that is entertaining and engaging to promote behavioural change – on this theme it seems there is a lot to learn from other media formats – please do let us know if you have some good examples and we can share on a blog post.

Future Innovation

Products are organically evolving as service providers learn more about the demand from users, services that bundle a variety of functionalities and content types together were repeatedly cited as the future of mobile agriculture. We heard about numerous service providers’ plans to develop agri-information services, financial services and products that increase the efficiency of agricultural value chains. A demand for Agricultural MFS (mobile financial services) was reconfirmed by many participants. Agricultural MFS have a great potential to change the way farmers do business, starting with the way they save for the inputs or equipment, access and process payments for credit and insurance. We also got a sneak peak of innovations in the development such as mobile services that link buyers and input providers to producers while providing access to information and digitising existing cash transactions between them. It’s apparent that the private sector and especially agri-business are ready to invest in mobile services.

The discussion often came back to the theme of “big data” and the opportunity for service providers to capture, analyse and share information for more holistic decision making.

Marketing

We also discussed common approaches to marketing Rural VAS, including Agri VAS, and some of the techniques of moving the customer through the journey of experiencing the service. The customer journey starts from the Unaware phase, followed by the Aware phase when the customer first learns about the service, Trial phase when the user tries the service for the first time, if the first trial is successful and results in positive experience for the user, its followed by Usage and eventually a Regular Usage stage. We all agreed that Agri VAS is a social innovation, and lots of education is needed to incentivise the customer to try the service, explain the value proposition and demonstrate how to use the product.

There was a debate on the role of below the line and above the line marketing strategies between the service providers. Although VAS providers and MNOs have a dramatic difference in the quality and range of assets they could leverage for marketing, it was agreed that partnering with existing agent networks – either through farmers’ groups or MNOs’ distribution and sales channels is a success factor for reaching rural areas. Backing up targeted below-the-line marketing with mobile advertising campaigns and on channels such as vernacular radio stations helps to create the awareness for the service. Attendees described how above the line campaigns such as radio or TV are very expensive and should only be used once below-the-line marketing strategy is explored.

We’ll be writing more blogs on the topic of marketing as we understand what marketing approach works and offers a good return on investment. If there are interesting examples of marketing Agricultural VAS or other Rural VAS please do share with us, and we will be able to showcase it either through case studies or blogs.

Experts in agriculture, energy, water, transport, health, access to finance, education and marketing are sought to judge the submissions and mentors to guide the successful applicants. This would be a fantastic opportunity for experts in the mWomen community who are within reach of Nairobi to help develop the sector and ensure the needs of women are represented in this fantastic initiative.

Expert participation would require the following commitment:

Judges

• Early July: Review 5 -6 applications (2 pages) in first round, relevant to your area of expertise (this could be done remotely).
• 28 July: Judge the top 36 applicants in a Hackathon at the Safaricom Academy, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya (in person)
• Early August: Participate in the final selection of the top 18 teams in Nairobi, Kenya (in person)

Mentors

August to October:

• Programme of weekly Wednesday evening dinners with a guest speaker from the mentoring panel, held at the Safaricom Academy, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya
• Participate in a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon mentor session(s) to provide one-on-one guidance and input on your area of expertise.

Anyone interested in becoming a judge or mentor is invited to contact Sean Smith on ssmith@investeddevelopment.com by 28 June, 2013.

Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “As a company, we are focused on the impact our service have on the lives of our customers and on their communities, so to see our efforts rewarded in this way is very gratifying. We believe that these awards demonstrate the power of partnering with local and global organisations to deliver scalable mobile services. Our customers can look forward to more life-enhancing mobile innovations in the coming months.”

For the “Consumer Service Innovation Award,” Indosat was the first operator in the world to offer Usaha Wanita (Business Women), and more than 8,000 women entrepreneurs in Indonesia have signed up to the service since its launch in December 2012. Usaha Wanita offers tips about business management, banking and credit access, customer management and marketing for small businesses.

Usaha Wanita was developed in partnership with Indosat, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, the ExxonMobil Foundation and Nokia Life. Usaha Wanita is also being used by Mercy Corps to give hands-on training to 2,000 women entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said: “I am delighted that this service has been recognised and we hope to continue to take it further. Supporting women entrepreneurs is one of the most important investments we can make and technology is one of the tools that can help us do that on a global scale.”

Usaha Wanita complements Indosat’s women-focused mobile initiatives including the award-winning Info Wanita (Information for Women), which provides important information on financial management, life skills, health and childcare delivered through SMS; and Hebat Keluarga (Great Family), a dedicated offering targeting stay-at-home mums, with features such as a family-friendly tariff and a family finder geo-location tracker.

For the “Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award,” Indosat and network solutions provider Altobridge overcame the barriers of cost, backhaul and power to deploy lightweight and solar-powered base sites as an in-house “rural solution to a rural problem”.

As a result, Indosat has commercially delivered mobile connectivity to rural Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua Island, and plans to use the solution to connect more customers throughout remote areas of Indonesia.

Tunisiana, also part of Ooredoo, also won two Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards. The “Consumer Service Innovation Award” was presented for its Najja7ni Employment service, which enhances employment prospects for Tunisian youth, and the “Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award” for the rollout of the IP backhaul network and 3G network.

The four telecom groups represented in this blog post account for over 42 million mobile money subscribers according to their latest published figures. In comparison, the June 2012 GSMA Mobile Money Adoption Survey counted 82 million subscribers worldwide.

Recall that mobile money contributes between 1% and 5% of revenues for most “sprinters. [1]” And for four sprinters it represents at least 10% of total revenues. Telecom group financial reports confirm the financial significance of mobile money, beyond churn reduction benefits. Moreover, they highlight the relative importance of non-voice services as future revenue drivers, especially as GSM markets mature.

Millicom (Tigo) – 3.9 million active subscribers (31 December 2012)

NOTE TO READER: The Millicom figures were originally misreported in this post and have been since been amended. Also note that Millicom publishes active subscribers while most other groups publish registered subscribers.

http://www.millicom.com/investor-relations/key-financial-data

http://www.millicom.com/sites/default/files/Millicom_AR12.pdf

http://gaia.world-television.com/millicom/millicom2013/download/Session3aCMD-MFS.pdf

Millicom’s 2012 annual report contains a number of bullish statements and projections around mobile financial services. Millicom says that they are “creating a blockbuster” and that “mobile financial services could be a platform that transforms entire economies.”  By 2017, Millicom projects greater than 50% MFS adoption in their GSM subscriber base with those subscribers generating $2.0 monthly MFS ARPU.

Currently mobile money generates $40 million revenue, still a modest percentage of the $4.8 billion generated across the entire business. However, the growth is impressive. In the fourth quarter mobile money was the largest contributor to their growth in Africa, generating more incremental revenue than even their mobile data business. Revenue growth since FY2011 was 322%.

Group level metrics and forecasts

• 3.9 million active subscribers
• $40 million revenue (1% of Millicom total); 322% YOY revenue growth
• 8.4% current MFS penetration into GSM base
• 2012 MFS ARPU = $0.86; forecasted 2017 MFS ARPU = $2.0
• “MFS could be a $1bn revenue opportunity”

Key markets mentioned

Tanzania

• 37% of customer base active users of Tigo Pesa in Q4 2012
• Significant reduction in churn amongst MFS customers 

Paraguay

• 24% of subscribers reached 

Rwanda

• 22% of customers are active users as of end of December 

MTN – over 10 million subscribers (31 December 2012)

http://www.mtn.com/Investors/Financials/Documents/ar_integrated_report2012.pdf

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15182&a=60875

MTN offers mobile money services in 11 markets to over 10 million subscribers. While light on commentary, MTN’s annual report and press releases give figures in a few key markets including Uganda, where mobile money contributes 9% of total revenue.

MTN says that their “products and services help close the digital divide in our markets and make a positive socio-economic impact. These include MTN Mobile Money.”

Group level metrics and forecasts

• >10 million mobile money subscribers, up by two-thirds from 2011’s 6 million 

Key markets mentioned

Uganda

• Over 3.5 million subscribers
• 9% contribution to revenue
• >200m transactions in 2012

Rwanda (press release from November 2012)

• >600k subscribers, equivalent to 20% of MTN Rwanda’s GSM subscriber base
• $138m in transactions since launch

Nigeria

• 9,000 agents and over 500k subscribers
• Continued to engage with central bank in 2013 to resolve “outstanding issues around the bank-led model” 

Vodafone (Vodacom / Safaricom) [2] – over 22 million subscribers (31 March 2013)

http://www.vodacom.co.za/cs/groups/public/documents/vodacom.co.za_portal_webassets/vod-announcement-mar13new.pdf

http://www.safaricom.co.ke/images/Downloads/Resources_Downloads/FY_2013_Results_Presentation.pdf

Vodacom M-PESA markets covered in the report are Tanzania, South Africa and DRC which launched in the most recent quarter before it was published. Vodacom cites mobile money as one of the key sources of future international growth. The Tanzania deployment appears to have enjoyed particular success where mobile money contributes 14.1% of total revenue.

Safaricom M-PESA continues to stand alone in its scale and contribution to its operator. Over 17 million subscribers (10.5m active) deliver $1.38 ARPU and in aggregate contribute 18% of Safaricom’s revenue. Safaricom’s $1.38 mobile money ARPU grew 22% over the last year, offsetting flattening user growth due to saturation.

Group level metrics and forecasts

• Active users up 57.5% to 4.9 million (Vodacom – Tanzania, South Africa, DRC) 

Key markets mentioned

Kenya (Safaricom)

• 18% of Safaricom revenue (29% growth, compared to 12.6% growth in voice revenue)
• 10.5m 30-day active users, 17.1m registered users
• $1.38 M-PESA ARPU up 22% from last year

Tanzania (Vodacom)

• M-PESA contributes 14.1% of revenue, up from 8.4% last year
• 51.7% of customers actively use the service
• $1.50 M-PESA ARPU
• Increasing amount of airtime purchased through M-PESA

Orange – 5.6 million subscribers (February 2013)

http://www.orange.com/m_en/news/2013/fevrier/Orange-Money-in-Uganda-the13th-African-country-to-choose-mobile-payments

http://www.orange.com/en/finance/General-Meeting-2013/annual-reports

Orange claims 5.6 million subscribers spread amongst 14 markets with fast rates of growth across a number of metrics.

Group level metrics and forecasts

• 13 markets in Africa launched
• 5.6 million subscribers
• In 2012: Transaction volumes 3x growth, value transacted 4x growth, subscribers 1.7x growth

We all understand that products and services must be designed for and around users; that’s simply a fundamental principle of products/service design.  I think the questions and obstacles arise when we attempt to put those fundamental principles into action.  Where does one begin?

The User Journey Approach

For our design workshop, our facilitators used methods adapted from the “User Journey” approach to suit the specifics of the workshop goals.  Rather than explain the concepts in this method, I’ll try to demonstrate a generic example.  It’s important to note that a high degree of subject matter expertise on the intended users and their activity is needed for this exercise.  Where that knowledge is absent, then careful research is needed to complete each step. In the case of our workshop, we had expert representatives from all target stakeholder groups (especially farmers).

Defining Personas

Our approach began with defining personas which are likely user profiles that represent our target audience.  In our workshop we created multiple personas for the various stakeholders who would engage with a service (smallholder farmers, commercial farmers, dairy farmers, buyers, middle men, agri processors, male, female, etc.).

Personas should be detailed and realistic, however for the sake of this demonstration; I’m creating a new generic persona for a female smallholder named Hilda.  She is 29 years old and lives in a rural village in sub Saharan Africa on a 2 hectare plot of land with her 3 children (ages 3, 5 and 9).  Her husband left her to manage the plot while he works as a labourer in the regional city visiting once every 1-2 months.  She grows maize, beans, cassava and potatoes in addition to a small family vegetable garden.  They eat what they grow and sell the rest when possible; at times she trades the produce with neighbours.  Typical expenses include school fees and periodic medical costs.  Hilda wants to save up for chickens or goats.  Although she is not very literate, Hilda has a mobile phone and uses it to answer calls from her husband and family members or receive occasional mobile money transfers from her husband.

Drafting a User’s Journey 

We can now begin to draft Hilda’s journey through her agriculture related activities.  This involves examining the key tasks Hilda conducts throughout her journey as a farmer.  Drafting a Journey is best done on a calendar basis or the planting cycle, which I have chosen:

Other agriculture related activities to consider include paying school fees, health care costs, savings, etc.

Now that we have an idea of Hilda’s journey, we can begin to identify her challenges.  What problems does she face through her journey?  In the table, I’ve added the “Challenges” row:

Regarding her agriculture related activities, Hilda has few funds available and no access to credit for her expenses or saving opportunities.

Having well defined challenges now helps us to see the opportunities a new product or service can address.

Additional opportunities exist to offer Hilda financial literacy advisories and savings and lending schemes.

In my follow on blog post I’ll begin by discussing what product or service concepts can follow these opportunities and then explore the underlying business model and business case.  Stay tuned!