According to a study by the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), Africa is projected to maintain its remarkable lead in mobile money services as a consequence of widespread acceptance of no-contact payments and, more recently, fear of contracting COVID-19.
In 2020, Africa made up more than half of the total live mobile money services worldwide, recording 548 million mobile money wallets, of the total 1.2 billion registered accounts. Out of 310 live mobile money services, 157 operate in Africa, representing 50.7% of the world total, according to the latest report by GSMA, the custodian of mobile network operators worldwide.
Money transactions in Africa increased by 15% in volume and 23% in value over the study period, totaling a whopping 490 billion US dollars.
Global growth accelerated in 2020 as the COVID-19 epidemic drove an increasing number of people into the mobile economy.
“In 2020, the number of registered accounts grew by 12.7 per cent globally to 1.21 billion accounts – double the forecasted growth rate,” according to the GSMA report.
However, growth in Africa was not only due to COVID-19.
“Apart from changes in consumer behaviour, this impressive uptake was due to regulators implementing more flexible Know Your Customer (KYC) processes and relaxing on-boarding requirements to make it easier to open an account.”
According to GSMA Director General Mats Granryd, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated mobile money penetration as individuals sought cashless methods of paying for food and other necessities. As customers grew increasingly fearful of handling cash, many resorted to mobile money to buy food, clothes, and other needs.
Meanwhile, the GSMA predicts that global mobile money transactions would surpass one trillion US dollars in value by 2023, up from the current 700 billion US dollars, with the majority of those transactions occurring in Africa.
