INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Stakeholders meet to discuss
future of mobile money
platforms in Africa
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be effective players in the future, and that
they are able to provide the innovations and
investments necessary in the technical and
business dynamics in the financial payment
market,” said Cesari.
M-Pesa has been Africa’s most successful
mobile money service. Research illustrates
that mobile money has significantly
contributed to social empowerment,
economic growth and poverty reduction.
It provides people with a safe, secure and
affordable way to send and receive money,
top-up airtime, make bill payments, receive
salaries and get a short-term loan.
K
ey representatives gathered at a
workshop organised by Vodacom to
look into trends and developments
shaping the mobile money industry in Africa. social benefit by providing access to financial
services to the millions of people who have a
mobile phone, but do not have or have only
limited access to a bank account.
Vodacom also released its Future-Proofing
Mobile Financial Services report at the
workshop. The report, the first of Vodacom’s
Public Policy Series, demonstrates how mobile
money is driving economic growth and
empowering lives through financial inclusion. “Our aim is to provide a platform for leading
experts to express their views on trends and
developments shaping the industry,” said
Obholzer. “The industry continues to evolve at
a rapid pace with policy makers and regulators
playing a central role in facilitating and
enabling environment for financial inclusion.”
Judith Obholzer, Managing Executive, Legal
and regulatory from Vodacom Group, said
that Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania,
has witnessed rapid growth in mobile money
operations and innovations enabling broad
based participation and access to financial
services. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the
10 economies worldwide where more adults
now have mobile money accounts than at a
financial institution. Albert Cesari, Representative of the Bank
of Tanzania who is Assistant Manager
– Oversight and Policy at the National
Payment systems Department, mentioned
about the important impact mobile
financial services have made on the
economy and the important role of the
workshop in ensuring sustainability of the
mobile financial service industry.
A game changer in this region, mobile money
continues to drive economic growth and “The government is committed to ensure
that mobile financial providers continue to
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Speaking during the launch of the new
research on mobile money , Hisham Hendi,
Managing Director, Vodacom Tanzania said:
“Mobile money – supported by extensive
mobile reach – has proven to be a platform
for economic opportunity, transforming the
financial services landscape, in particular on
the African continent.
“I am glad that this report brings together
contributions by leading experts that speak
about these three broader themes. They are
diverse in their views and ambitions, critical
and inspiring.”
The event brought together representatives
from mobile network operators and
a cross section of sectors including
telecommunication, financial service
providers, banking, CSO and regulators who
addressed various topics including: future-
proofing mobile financial services; enabling
interoperability frameworks – payment
systems, regional integration and cross-
border opportunities, how to solve the legal
identity problem, best practice sharing
and the cloud opportunity – getting the
conditions right. n
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