mobile money for business development in the east african
TRANSCRIPT
Mobile Money for
Business Development
in the East African
Community
Cécile Barayre Programme Manager,
E-commerce and Law Reform Programme
24 October 2013
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
Contents
• Background
• Role of postal offices
• Case of Burundi
• Recommendations
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
EAC SNAPSHOT
• 138M+ population
• 67M+ mobile phone
subscribers
• 21 mobile network operators
• 15 of these have mobile
money (MM) offerings
• 15% of all MM deployments
in Africa
• With 30M+ mobile money
(MM) subscribers
EAC MOBILE MONEY SNAPSHOT
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
• Kenya (Airtel) and Burundi (Ecokash)
• Advantages: trust and postal network (critical
mass of customers and agents)
• super agent: a cash-in/cash-out network
• Issues: computerization, competition
• Offer services to several mobile money
operators: improve interoperability for customers
and MNOs
ROLE OF POSTAL OFFICES
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
BURUNDI: ECOKASH & RNP
• First MM in the country (2009)/29,000 MM
subscriptions
• Ecokash agents/postal offices
• Almost no access to MM services (lack of
infrastructure and banks in rural areas)
• 132 post offices: RNP as a super agent
"Suivant le rythme du changement, la RNP devra analyser les opportunités offertes
par les TIC en vue de l'exploitation prochaine des produits électroniques tels e-
banking, e-commerce, e- business, e-administration et autres produits apparentés ».
Victoire Ndikumana, Ministre en charge des postes (9 octobre 2013)
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Need for an effective and robust legal and
regulatory framework
• Need for regulatory teamwork between
regulatory and market sectors
• Need to address concerns related to : - consumer protection,
- registration and transaction limits,
- regulatory collaboration and
- interoperability
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
STATUS E-COMMERCE LEGISLATION
eContracting Data
privacy
Consumer
protection
Copyright Domain
name
Internet &
mobile
payment
systems
Cybercrime
& cyber-
security
Content
control
Burundi Pending Pending Pending 2005 Act Not
reported
X 2009 Act &
Bill
Pending
Kenya 2009 Act X 2010
Regulation
s &
proposed
Bill
2009 Act Not
reported
X
2009 Act 2010
Regulations
Rwanda 2010 Act X 2010 Act 2009 Act Pending X 2010 Law
2010 Law
Tanzania Draft bill Partial
under
2010
Law
X 1999 Act X X Draft bill Partial
under 2010
Law
Uganda 2011 Act Draft
Law
2011 Act 2006 Act Pending X 2011 Act 2011 Act
Source: UNCTAD, 2013
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
• Define quality of service metrics that are regularly
tracked and disseminated
• MM data needs consideration within general
framework of privacy and data retention laws
within the EAC
• Consumer support structures and systems
• Consumer training
CONSUMER SUPPORT AND PROTECTION
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
REGISTRATION AND TRX LIMITS
• Incremental registration and KYC
• Harmonization of ID documents
• SIM + small business registration
REGULATOR TEAMWORK
• Financial + communications regulator
• Regional harmonization and integration
GLOBAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 24-25 OCTOBER 2013
INTEROPERABILITY
• Challenging for small enterprises to support
multiple MM platforms for payment
• Interconnection fee: voice vs. MM
• MM ecosystem integration into the national
payments system
• National MM ecosystem integration into the
EAC
• Post as a switch among several MMOs
THANK YOU!
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/dtlstict2012d2_en.pdf
http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=251
For more information on UNCTAD Studies on Mobile Money
and Cyberlaw Harmonization in the EAC:
