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by Andrew Travis<\/p>\n
Sub-Saharan Africa leads the world in mobile money transactions, but millions of Africans still
\ncan\u2019t open an account. Home to the world\u2019s most dynamic mobile money ecosystem, the region
\nprocessed more than 70% of the world\u2019s $1.26 trillion mobile money transactions in 2022. This
\nfinancial revolution is powered by telecom services like Kenya\u2019s M-Pesa, Ghana\u2019s MoMo, and
\nNigeria\u2019s Opay. These platforms allow people to send, receive, and store money on their SIM
\ncards. They have expanded access to financial services in areas that traditional banks have long
\nunderserved. While the numbers might indicate a transformed continent, the reality is more
\nuneven and urgent. Women, rural communities, and displaced people across Sub-Saharan Africa
\nare still limited from participating in this digital revolution. Without smart, targeted policy
\ninterventions, mobile money risks reinforcing the same inequalities it has the potential to solve.<\/p>\n
Mobile money enables millions of cell-phone users to save, send, and receive funds without ever
\nentering a bank. It also allows micro-entrepreneurs to run businesses, farmers to access credit,
\nand families to receive remittances instantly. In Ghana, for example, more than 80% of adults use
\nmobile wallets like Momo. Throughout the region, mobile money supports agent networks and
\ntech startups, creating thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n
Not everyone benefits equally. A study backed by the World Bank found that in Mali, only
\n14.69% of women had access to a financial institution or mobile money service in 2017, in
\ncontrast with 25.64% of men. That gap is still an issue. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are 29%
\nless likely to use mobile internet than men. Over a quarter of adults with accounts
\nin Ethiopia say that they don’t use them because of confusion and mistrust of telecom companies.
\nThese usage gaps result from barriers disproportionately affecting the poorest and most
\nvulnerable.<\/p>\n
There are a few barriers that need to be addressed. The first obstacle is digital literacy, a problem
\ndisproportionately faced by women and older adults. Even with access to mobile phones, users
\ncan lack the confidence or skills to navigate mobile platforms. In countries like Ethiopia, the
\nchallenge starts at early childhood development: a recent national assessment found that 56% of
\nsecond and third-graders were illiterate. These early education gaps leave adults unprepared for
\nbasic digital tasks. Gender also plays a role. In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, women are less
\nlikely to attend school, own a smartphone, or be taught how to use financial apps. Mobile money
\nplatforms will continue to leave them behind without targeted digital education efforts.<\/p>\n
The second barrier is the issue of infrastructure. Although urban areas benefit from dense and
\nrobust mobile networks and electricity, many rural regions are still disconnected. In the
\nDemocratic Republic of Congo, for example, more than 60% of the population lives without a
\nreliable mobile service. And still, when there is coverage, weak agent networks limit users\u2019
\nability to cash in or cash out their accounts. Energy is a critical limitation as well. Mobile
\nsystems cannot function without electricity to charge phones or power agent kiosks. A model for
\naddressing the energy issue is the African Development Bank\u2019s \u201cDesert to Power\u201d initiative,
\nwhich aims to bring solar energy to over 250 million people in the Sahel. Still, digital
\nconnectivity needs to be explicitly integrated into similar programs if we want to unlock their
\nfull potential.<\/p>\n
And last but not least, there is the barrier of regulation. Most mobile money systems require
\ncompliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, which require formal identification.
\nHowever, many displaced people and informal workers don\u2019t have national IDs. Countries like
\nUganda and Nigeria have excluded thousands of refugees and undocumented people with strict
\nSIM registration mandates. These are the people for whom mobile money can serve the best.
\nThere is technology that exists to fix this issue. Countries like Ghana have introduced tiered
\nKYC frameworks that allow low-risk users to open basic accounts with small amounts of money
\nand minimal identification. These types of systems help expand access while preserving financial
\nintegrity. But there are still problems like political resistance and fears of fraud that have kept
\nbroader adoption of these tiered frameworks from taking place.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s undeniable is that mobile money adoption is growing rapidly. There are governments,
\ntelecom companies, and donors experimenting with new strategies to promote inclusion.
\nRwanda\u2019s Digital Ambassadors program trained local youth to teach digital skills in rural areas.
\nBoth the World Bank and the UNDP have supported national financial inclusion strategies across
\nAfrica. But these efforts are still fragmented and often don\u2019t reach the \u201clast mile.\u201d In a lot of
\ncases, they reinforce the existing gaps by helping the already connected, educated, and
\ndocumented. There is room to do better.<\/p>\n
If we want mobile money to live up to its promise, there needs to be a public-private push across
\nthree fronts: digital literacy, infrastructure, and regulation. National governments and
\ndevelopment agencies must invest in scalable digital education, and rural networks and energy
\nexpansion must be prioritized in infrastructure projects. Governments should adopt flexible,
\nrisk-based KYC rules while allowing humanitarian IDs to bring the excluded into the system.
\nMobile Money is a powerful tool for development in Sub-Saharan Africa, but technology alone
\nwill not close the gap. It\u2019s a policy challenge that requires vision, investment, and inclusion in its
\ndesign. Without addressing these issues, we risk building a digital economy as unequal as the one
\nit was meant to replace.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Andrew Travis is a School of Diplomacy student who participated in the UN Field Seminar course in the Spring 2025 semester.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Andrew Travis Sub-Saharan Africa leads the world in mobile money transactions, but millions of Africans still can\u2019t open an account. Home to the world\u2019s…<\/p>\n