Kenya is most diversified mobile money market

Kenya ranked second among consumers who used mobile money for savings at 33 per cent. [File, Standard]

Kenya and Senegal are the continent’s most maturing and highly diversified mobile money markets, according to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA).

The two countries lead in the number of consumers who in the last 12 months used mobile money to get a loan, with Kenya registering 36 per cent followed by Senegal at 12 per cent. Nigeria was at four per cent and Egypt at two per cent.

Kenya ranked second among consumers who used mobile money for savings at 33 per cent, behind Nigeria with 54 per cent and ahead of Egypt with 14 per cent. Senegal posted 10 per cent.

GSMA, in its annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, said despite the benefits of mobile-enabled credit, digital lenders and mobile money providers have a responsibility to prevent over-indebtedness and risks that can have adverse economic effects on consumers and harm provider revenues and reputations, such as violations of data privacy.

“To ensure they are offering responsible credit products, providers can conduct financial education campaigns, robustly monitor determinants of financial health, provide clear terms and conditions on interest and repayments and make efficient customer support channels available,” the report said.

Mobile money adoption and activity continued an upward trajectory in 2021, where the number of registered accounts reached 1.35 billion globally, up 18 per cent since last year and 10 times more than they were in 2012 (134 million).

Moreover, 518 million of the accounts were active on a 90-day basis and 346 million on a 30-day basis, growing nearly 15 times and 13 times respectively since 2012.

The mobile money industry in 2021 processed more than $1.045 trillion (Sh121 trillion) on new customers and mobile money use.