Accra, Ghana, June 13, 2020//-From the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital city to Zuarungu, small town in the Upper East Region, thousands of young educated people are engaged in Mobile Money (MoMo) transaction business.
These young people are normally employed by individuals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) owners who are contracted by Mobile Financial Services (MFS) providers namely MTN Mobile Money, Vodafone Cash, and AirtelTigo Money to transaction financial services to their customers on their behalf.
Due to this symbiotic relationship that exists between the MFS providers and MoMo agents, they earn commissions for their transactions.
These mobile money agents are individuals or businesses contracted by MFS providers to facilitate transactions for their customers.
Cash-in and cash-out that is loading value into the mobile money system, and then converting it back out again, is one of the most important functions of MoMo agents.
Also, they do in many instances register new customers and provide front-line customer service—such as teaching new users how to initiate transactions on their phone.
Additionally, agents conduct other kinds of business in addition to mobile money including retail of mobile airtime and SIM cards.
Cross-sections of MoMo agents, who spoke to African Eye Report, narrated that making a living would have been difficult without the momo business.
Madam Vida Sena Gbedze, who runs Lividas Enterprise, a MoMo agent shop at Alhaji, a suburb of Accra, said the mobile money transfer business has been beneficial to her and her family.
In her own words: “Through this business, I’m able to take care of needs as well as my family”.
For Madam Fidaus Mohammed, an employee at Vdan AD Ventures, the youth are making some money for working in the mobile money eco-space.
Gifty Abena Kissi, another MoMo agent, added that she was able to pay her sister’s school fees at the tertiary level because of MoMo. “So, I see MTM Mobile Money as a Godsend because the company has transformed my life to something meaningful”.
MTN Ghana whose subsidiary is the MTN Mobile alone has over 170,000 MoMo agents across the West African country.
It also controls huge market share of the country’s mobile money market and has the largest network of MoMo agents in Ghana.
The growth of MoMo agent network across the country is creating additional source of revenue and job opportunities for the masses in the country, Senior Manager for Anti-money Laundering, Compliance and Analytics at MTN Mobile Money, Godwin Tamakloe, said recently at a virtual MoMo sensitization event for some selected members of Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA).
The revolution of mobile money transactions in the Ghanaian economy sparked by MTN Ghana is generating thousands of direct and indirect inclusive jobs for Ghanaians.
On February this year, the company chalked another feat by roping in 100 physically challenged people into its expansive MoMo agent network in Ghana.
The beneficiaries were given disability friendly kiosks, mobile phones and GHC4, 000 seed capital each to operate MTN Mobile Money business across the country.
Speaking at the launch in Accra, General Manager of Mobile Financial Services at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini, explained that the MTN and Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) Economic Empowerment Project was part of MTN’s effort to economically empower persons living with disabilities in Ghana.
“MTN decided to extend its support to person’s living with disability because we acknowledge with concern the numerous challenges they encounter in their quest to access funds to develop themselves”.
MTN Ghana then reached out to the Federation of Disability to assess what could be done to empower PWDs in a sustainable manner and this is how this project was born.
“We hope that this project will make the beneficiaries self-reliant and reduce the tendency of depending on others for survival”.
It is the company’s hope that, as a result of this initiative, beneficiaries will be economically empowered to provide for their needs and that of their dependents, he said.
Mr Hini added: “We hope to see this project grow so that beneficiaries can earn enough income to put their children through school and not allow them to push them to beg for arms on the streets. Like a plant breeder, MTN wishes to enhance your living conditions with this project”.
That is why they designed tailor made kiosks that will support the PWD agent needs and make it comfortable for beneficiaries to look forward to going to work each day.
“We want the seedlings to grow into beautiful plants that will yield bumper harvest. However, let me quickly add that, the bumper harvest would not yield that easily: It will need care weeding, pruning etc”, Mr Hini advised.
In this vein, your venture (MoMo Agents) will require you to work hard, commit time and energy into making it successful. You need to be meticulous in your operations”.
The Director of National Association of Deaf, Juventus Dourinaah, said: “We see the partnership with MTN and particularly this initiative as step to empowering persons with disability to be financially independent and less dependent on the government, family and the community at large.
Furthermore, the company employed and resourced thousands of mobile agents across the length and breadth of Ghana to provide customer and public education on MoMo fraud for all people irrespective of their MoMo platforms.
MTN Ghana adopted a new strategy aims at localizing the MoMo education by involving traditional rulers, opinion leaders, churches and mosques, among others to ensure that the messages reach all in the communities.
MTN Ghana and its counterpart MoMo service providers are working assiduously to provide insurance cover(s) for all the mobile money agents in the country, hopefully this year.
MoMo growth
According to the Summary of the Economic and Financial Data for March 2020 released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the total value of Mobile Money transactions in the country has increased to GH₵30.1 billion in February 2020 from GH₵20.9 billion in February 2019.
While the total float balance for all mobile money transactions is currently stood at GH₵3.6 billion in February this year compared to GH₵2.7 billion within the same period last year, the data said.
It is quick to add that there are 32.7 million registered mobile money account holders in the country as at February 2020 against the 33.4 million recorded in the same period in 2019.
But, active mobile money accounts jumped to 14.7 million in February 2020 from 12.9 million recorded in February last year.
Factors driving the MoMo growth
The unparalleled growth of mobile financial services in sub-Saharan Africa within the past six years has surpassed all expectations.
While Kenya is referred to as a chief example of digital transformation, Ghana has recently become the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa, with registered accounts increasing six-fold between 2012 and 2017.
The country’s experience provides a fresh perspective on its digital transformation and demonstrates that technology can help modernise the financial system as well as also support greater financial inclusion, according to Selin Ozyurt, an Economist at Agence française de développement (AFD).
Indeed, mobile financial services are generally used by those poorly served by the traditional financial sector.
The 2017 Global Findex database indicated that access to formal financial services rose from 41% of adults in 2014 to 58% in 2017]. This is mainly attributable to mobile accounts, with 20% of digital-wallet users being previously unbanked. These now represent about 40% of all account holders, compared to 13% in 2014.
It is important to acknowledge that by reducing the lengths of transactions and other the associated risks and costs, mobile-money services better meet the needs of vulnerable customers including smallholder farmers.
Many factors have contributed to the speedy progress of mobile money usage in Ghana. One of these is the strong mobile phone penetration rate which is over 120%, making the widespread use of mobile money services possible, particularly in rural areas.
Another important factor of the Ghanaian success is the product of a right mix of consumer-driven practices and a favourable regulatory environment for the industry, built on the back of early infrastructure investments.
Ghana is boasting about its mobile money today because in the early years digital services struggled to gain traction.
Its initial 2008 regulation for branchless banking according to industry experts was highly restrictive, imposing rules and requirements that deterred most initiatives.
The regulations reflected the perceived “high-risk gamble” of allowing non-bank actors such as mobile network operators to issue e-money and potential negative implications for the stability of Ghana’s banking sector, Ozyurt noted.
However, the improved 2015 e-Money Issuer Guidelines shifted to a more flexible approach which is currently in operation allows new players in the provision of financial services in the country.
Deepening financial inclusion
The facilitation of money transfers and payment of utilities between individuals and across sectors has become enormous.
The revolution of mobile money transactions in the Ghanaian economy has instigated a paradigm shift to a new kind of retail banking system where large segments of the unbanked populace are being absorbed into the financial services sector.
The success of mobile money transactions in advancing financial inclusion cannot be overemphasized, but there is still scope for further expansion and players and the regulator (BoG) need to focus on areas such as pricing of digital financial services to promote competitive practices to foster increased usage.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
