Skip to main content

Home/ Spring 21 Capstone 640pm/ Group items tagged Arab World

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
nouhaila_zaki

What Kenya's mobile money success could mean for the Arab world - 1 views

www.worldbank.org/...-could-mean-for-the-arab-world

M-Pesa Kenya Arab World

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • For a successful model, the Arab World can look to Kenya’s development of mobile money or “M-Pesa”. In many ways, the elements that lead to M-Pesa’s success in Kenya are already present in the Arab World. Young people in MENA are digitally savvy, are active on social media and are some of the heaviest users of mobile phones in the world.
    • hichamachir
      hichamachir on 12 Feb 21
       
      M-Pesa can influence many countries to believe in the power of technology and innovation. I think that embracing the entrepreneurial lifestyle can help many countries to innovate and create successful business and M-Pesa is a great example.
  • The growth of M-Pesa is the result of many factors, including the ease of setting up an account (which is free and only requires an official ID), its simplicity of use, its affordability, the high literacy rate of the population, and the high penetration of mobile phones.Another key element to M-Pesa’s growth worth emphasizing is the regulatory stance adopted by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). It decided not to oppose the entry of the telecom operator into the financial sector as long as it offered sufficient guarantees. CBK adopted an “above the fray” position as a regulator and allowed for experimentation in order to foster innovation.
  • The successful adoption of M-Pesa in Kenya reverberated across the African startup scene. It acted as a catalyzer and a signal for young entrepreneurs in Kenya and Africa as a whole: revolutionary ideas could be successfully implemented in Africa and generate both business opportunities and a development path for local communities.
    • samielbaqqali
      samielbaqqali on 12 Feb 21
       
      M-Pesa will influence many nations to believe in the potential of creativity and technology. I think it will help many countries to innovate and build effective companies by adopting the entrepreneurial lifestyle, and M-Pesa is an excellent example.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • A MENA perspectiveMENA could easily follow in Kenya’s footsteps, and reap immense benefits. The adoption of mobile payment systems makes transactions cheaper, easier and safer. By simplifying how clients can pay for goods and services, it helps firms reach out to new customers and foster private sector development across the economy. Moreover, as is often the case with innovations, it has the potential to be built upon and used by other new technologies and to create a positive momentum in fintech as a whole.Governments in the Middle East and North Africa should enable digital innovation with conducive regulations and the development of a regulatory ‘sandbox’, which guarantees the security of transactions but allows for experimentation, that would stimulate the development and adoption of disruptive innovations.Today, economic connectivity is achieved by the development and harmonization of optic fibers, IT equipment, online payment systems, information transmission and data protection policies. If the MENA region puts sufficient efforts in this direction, it could propose a new path to its citizens, in particular the youth, and bring about a new development strategy adapted to the modern age.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This except is very interesting because it touches upon the way in which M-Pesa could benefit MENA societies. It encourages MENA governments to legislate in favour of innovation and digital products in order to propose a new development strategy that befits the modern age.
  • mohammed_ab on 12 Feb 21
     
    I think that this article has some great information on how to replicate the success story of M-Pesa in the Arab World. I think that the Arab World is in need of such service to facilitate the life of unbanked people, and especially women. This article also highlights the importance of having a lenient regulatory system.
tahaemsd

Egypt's MoneyFellows secures US$4m to expand | ITWeb Africa - 0 views

itweb.africa/...RgeVDMPYGjRqKJN3

Fintech Africa Payments modernization Service

shared by tahaemsd on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Egyptian Fintech platform MoneyFellows has secured US$4-million in Series A investment from venture capital firms Partech Ventures and Sawari Ventures.The Fintech firm plans to use the investment to expand within Africa and also launch new solutions.MoneyFellows is a financial enabler that digitises money circles or ROSCA (known as gam’eyas in the Arab world, chit funds in India, committee in Pakistan, Tandas in Mexico, and tontine in West and Central Africa).
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 13 Feb 21
       
      the company can be described a first mover in supportig financial inclusio and digital transformation mandate of the egyptian government
mohammed_ab

Egypt calls for financial inclusions - Wamda - 1 views

www.wamda.com/...ypt-calls-financial-inclusions

Fawry Financial inclusion Regulations

shared by mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • For years, Egyptian companies have been paying salaries in cash, and people have been saving money outside banks.  Only 10 percent of Egyptians have bank accounts, according to Payfort’s State of Payments in the Arab World 2014 report. Over the previous decade, the electronic payment market has been penetrated by two firms: state-owned e-Finance, which handles electronic payments from and to the government through banking channels, and private-sector Fawry, which was launched in 2008 to provide payment solutions through ATM machines, mobile wallets, and retail points. Chief technology officer of Fawry, Mostafa Elnahhas, told Wamda that his company succeeded in spreading 65,000 collection points in 300 cities for banked customers in Egypt. However, the electronic payment is still small-sized due to the large amount of unbanked customers and the low credit card penetration.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      Fawry's main concerns for the next years is the large number of customers not familiar with electronic payment making fintech entry more challenging. E-services awareness should be made in that regard.
  • Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it. PayMe app was forced by Egypt’s fiscal regulator to stop operating for four months to abide by regulations. (Photo via PayMe) However, shortly after its launch, the Central Bank of Egypt, the state regulator, suspended Payme’s operations as a payment firm as it wasn’t cooperating with a bank. The firm had to abide by this regulation until it followed the requirements and collaborated with state-owned bank the National Bank of Egypt, then resumed its business in January 2017.  
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      Egypt's regulations are quite strict. If a fintech doesn't cooperate with a bank for instance, the central bank will suspend its activities until further notice.
  • Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Bureaucracy, the absence of clear government regulations in the electronic payment sector, and the low percentage of debit and credit card users in Egypt are affecting the sector, said Al Salahy.
  • mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21
     
    This article shows that regulatory agencies are still very strict with fintech firms in Egypt. It makes the work for fintech very difficult as they need to abide by these regulations even if it affects their operations and growth.
1 - 3 of 3
Showing 20▼ items per page