https://www.miningweekly.com
Africa|Efficiency|Financial|Safety|Services
Africa|Efficiency|Financial|Safety|Services
africa|efficiency|financial|safety|services

Mobile money accounts top 1.6bn, with 400m having been added during Covid pandemic

19th May 2023

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

As the world moves towards a post-Covid era, mobile money services have continued to show resilient growth, with the number of registered mobile money accounts worldwide more than doubling to nearly 1.6-billion in 2022 from just 772-million in 2017.

The latest GSMA ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2023’ shows that, while it took the industry 17 years to reach the first 800-million customers, it took only five years to double that by another 800-million, of which, 400-million accounts – many first-time users – were added over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Year-on-year, the 1.6-billion registered mobile money accounts recorded in 2022 represented growth of 13% from 1.4-billion in 2021.

“In 2022, we were clearly able to see the importance of mobile money during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it enabled millions of people across low- and middle-income countries to access digital financial services. Our data shows that the habit of using digital payments, enforced by the pandemic, has stuck, leading to mobile money activity growth outstripping new registrations in many countries,” says GSMA director-general Mats Granryd, noting that this is an indication that the industry is maturing beyond a handful of markets.

Registered accounts and 30-day active accounts grew at least 30% higher than forecast in 2019.

In 2022, active 30-day accounts and active 90-day accounts grew 13% to 401-million and 586-million respectively.

By December 2022, there were 315 mobile money services, a decrease in the number of services available globally from 319 in 2021, mostly owing to fewer deployments in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the number of countries deploying mobile money services increased from 98 to 102.

Worldwide, transaction values increased by 22% between 2021 and 2022, from $1-trillion to $1.26-trillion, with a 19% increase in transaction volumes to 65-billion.

In 2020, global daily transaction values exceeded $2-billion. ‘The State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2021’ previously suggested this could reach $3-billion a day by the end of 2022, a figure that has been surpassed, with $3.45-billion worth of transactions daily through mobile money in 2022.

In 2022, overall mobile money-enabled international remittances grew by 28% year-on-year to $22-billion, while merchant payments processed each year increased 17% to $78-billion.

“During the pandemic, many diasporans sent more funds through mobile money to friends and family than ever before,” says Granryd, noting that international remittances grew significantly in both 2020 and 2021, as many senders favoured mobile money for its efficiency, speed, safety and cost effectiveness, a trend that continued in 2022, albeit at a slower rate.

According to the report, there were 7.2-million active agents in 2022, year-on-year growth of 25%, and 17.4-million registered agents, a 41% increase year-on-year.

Sub-Sahara Africa, with 154 live services, boasted 763-million registered accounts, year-on-year growth of 17%, with 218-million active 30-day accounts, representing growth of 15%, a 21% increase in transaction volume to 45-billion and a 22% increase in transaction value to $832-billion.

This growth was led by West Africa, with the number of active accounts increasing almost every year since 2018, overtaking previous mobile money powerhouse East Africa.

In 2022, West Africa had the highest number of new accounts of all subregions worldwide.

Overall, West Africa had 66 live services, growing its registered accounts by 27% to 290-million and active 30-day accounts by 30% to 76-million. The transaction volume grew 30% to 12-billion, while the transaction value increased 22% to $277-billion.

In East Africa, where there are 56 live services, registered accounts increased 12% to 390-million, with the number of active 30-day accounts increasing 8% to 115-million, while the transaction volumes grew 18% to 28-billion and the transaction value increased 23% to $491.8-billion.

Southern Africa, with 14 live services, reported a 16% increase to 18-million registered accounts and five-million active 30-day accounts, representing a 24% increase, as well as a 28% increase in transaction volumes to 490-million and a 14% increase in transaction value to $5.3-billion.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

Flameblock
Flameblock

FlameBlock is a proudly South African company that engineers, manufactures and supplies fire intumescent and retardant products to the fire...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.154 0.188s - 89pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now