How Technology is Leveraging Financial Inclusion in Africa

When the continent was struck with the pandemic, many African countries struggled to adjust to the new norm as their economies were disrupted. Unlike other continents, Africa was less hit by the pandemic. Despite the fewer fatalities, the continent struggled a lot to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Lockdown sanctions, travel restrictions and home working led to dwindling economies. But thanks to the technological breakthrough that saw the increased overreliance of e-commerce platforms and mobile money transfer.

Covid-19 accelerated the rate at which most African countries embraced digital banking. Agency banking significantly increased during Covid-19. Mobile money transfer shot by a marginal magnitude as people avoided using tangible currencies. Bank charges and mobile transfer services cost were scaled down to cushion the less income earners.

For example in Kenya, the Central Bank directed all agencies to zero-rate sending money below a thousand shillings. Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO and Founder of Nigeria-based Company TeamApt, in an interview with BBC World News said that financial agencies were scaled to multiple locations to help people maintain social distance while transacting. 

Mobile money registered a significant growth as compared to ATMs, owing to its affordable way of facilitating monetary inclusion. In Kenya, MPesa services continued to dominate the market share, with Equity Bank’s equitel services making noteworthy gain in the money transfer market.

Digitalization of the economy has made the financial services to be accessible almost everywhere.

Photo: Mozambique's tallest building