PODCAST | 1.6-billion mobile money accounts in the world, says GSMA

The growth of mobile payments services in Africa and beyond is the focus in this edition of Business Day Spotlight. 

Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Ashley Olson Onyango, head of financial inclusion and agritech at GSMA. 

GSMA is the global industry body for telecommunications operators. Its new report on the state of mobile money shows that global rates of adoption are rising quicker than expected.

The number of registered mobile money accounts grew 13% year on year, from 1.4-billion in 2021 to 1.6-billion in 2022. While it took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800-million customers, this is significant growth as the next 800-million needed just five years.

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Of the total, the largest user base — almost half at 763-million — are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with SA making up a tiny piece of the pie. 

Onyango says mobile money appears to be a solution mainly suited for emerging markets where financial exclusion continues to be a huge challenge in the formal economy. 

She outlines some of the report’s main findings, namely the factors driving the adoption and use of mobile money services in emerging market countries; the dynamics of the SA market; regulation in the space; and how such platforms are being used in agriculture on the continent.  

Business Day Spotlight is a TimesLIVE Production.