On 28th July 2016, over 400 industry leaders, policy makers and key mobile money stakeholders convened in Dar es Salaam for the seventh Mobile Money Leadership Forum. Market insights were shared, future innovations identified and the evolution of the industry discussed by our expert panellists. Sessions included:
- Impact & innovation in Tanzania: Leading the mobile money revolution
- The catalytic role of mobile money in financial sector development
- Disrupting international remittances through mobile money
- Connected Women: Insights for driving growth in mobile money service
- The next generation of mobile money and ecosystem development
- Digitising government payments: The opportunities, benefits and factors for success
You can view the final agenda and speaker list here.
Thoughts, trends and analysis
The packed day of sessions ensured rigorous debate and key analysis from industry leaders. An overarching theme was the need for continued industry collaboration. This together with open dialogue among public and private sector players is critical to grow the mobile money ecosystem, further deepen financial inclusion and improve livelihoods.
Several takeaways and highlights emerged and you can read them below.
Impact & innovation in Tanzania: Leading the mobile money revolution
Panellists: Sunil Colaso (Airtel Tanzania), Diego Gutierrez (Tigo Tanzania), Sitoyo Lopokoiyit (Vodacom Tanzania) and moderated by Greta Bull (CGAP).
- While mobile money providers have taken a collaborative approach to enable interoperability in Tanzania, they remain competitive, demonstrated by their various innovative approaches aimed at enhancing customer propositions.
- The financial regulator plays a critical role in enhancing industry growth in both a collaborative and competitive environment.
- Interoperability should be a market-driven approach—providers should decide if, when, and how they interoperate. Proactive engagement by providers will help achieve an optimal interoperability solution.
The catalytic role of mobile money in financial sector development
Panellists: Tom Chaplin (MILVIK BIMA), Bernard Dadi (Bank of Tanzania), Edward Ndichu (KCB Group), Christine Sabwa (Airtel Money Africa) and moderated by Amolo Ng’weno (Bankable Frontier Associates).
- Mobile money is and can be a catalyst for financial inclusion. Not only does it stimulate financial sector development bringing more people to the formal economy, but it increases financial depth.
- The industry should aim for a level playing field which creates fertile ground for innovation and unlocks investment towards mobile money services.
- Regulators and the industry can take measures to stimulate the adoption of mobile money services and increase financial depth, as seen in Tanzania.
Disrupting international remittances through mobile money
Panellists: Eric Barbier (TransferTo), Thomas Lammer (World Bank), Dr Gabriel Mougani (African Development Bank), Dare Okoudjou (MFS Africa), Chris Williamson (Vodafone Group) and moderated by Francesca Brown (DFID).
- Technology and competition have a vital role to play in reducing the transaction costs of migrant remittances. Mobile money is best placed to disrupt and drive down the economic costs of transactions to achieve UN’s SDG 10c before 2030.
- There is a need for more enabling regulatory frameworks across markets for mobile money based remittances to flourish and scale.
- An ongoing dialogue between regulators, policy-makers and mobile money providers is needed to better understand different perspectives and concerns in this area.
Connected Women: Insights for driving growth in mobile money services
Panellists: Emmanuel de Dinechin (Altai Consulting), Rosita Najmi (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Papa Sow (Tigo Chad) and moderated by Claire Sibthorpe (GSMA).
- An economy that includes everyone is more beneficial and as such, women should not be left behind.
- It’s important to involve customers in product development—and this is not about making products look feminine, but developing products that are relevant to the needs of women.
- Driving growth in mobile money for women is not only about removing barriers, it is also about seeing opportunities in removing these barriers and tapping into the female market.
The next generation of mobile money and ecosystem development
Panellists: Roar Bjaerum (Telenor), Alban Luherne (Orange), Aniqa Afzal Sandhu (Mobilink Pakistan), Ameya Upadhyay (Omidyar Network) and moderated by Judah Levine (Mondato).
- Operators are seriously pursuing opportunities beyond P2P transfers, for example, merchant payments and e-commerce through investments in specialised firms and adjacent businesses. Additionally, international money transfers are leveraging new technologies like blockchain.
- Partnerships and collaboration are critical for ecosystem development, particularly for offering credit and insurance products that support financial inclusion goals.
- Mobile money providers still have an advantage over most fintechs in this space, and MNOs have the potential to acquire customers because they are a familiar brand that offers an essential connection.
Digitising government payments: The opportunities, benefits and factors for success
Panellists: Yan Kwizera (Rwanda Online Platform), Harry Mwangi (ICT Authority – Kenya), Ruan Swanepoel (Tigo Tanzania), Brian Wamatu (Safaricom) and moderated by Tidhar Wald (Better Than Cash Alliance/UNCDF).
- Government support is critical for digitising payments and advocacy is needed to raise awareness of the benefits of P2G and G2P payments.
- Digitising payments can be a long journey, and one that requires a dedicated collaborative effort.
- Although digitising everything at the same time is not the answer, it is key to look for quick wins. It’s important to keep it simple and to ensure the service works. Underpinning this is strong communication which educates and encourages a change in customer behaviour to keep funds digital.
Written with contributions from the GSMA Mobile Money team. Images courtesy of Mbichagraphy.