Skip to main content

Home/ Spring 21 Capstone 640pm/ Group items tagged Telecom

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.
kaoutarchennoufi

From M-Pesa to Ushahidi: how African tech is fighting the coronavirus - Friends of Europe - 0 views

www.friendsofeurope.org/...ch-is-fighting-the-coronavirus

CashFlow Grow Fees Users

shared by kaoutarchennoufi on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The main telecoms operators in the country are all pitching in too – starting with Safaricom which uses the M-Pesa mobile application. In my book “Startup Lions, at the heart of African Tech” I explain how M-Pesa was born organically (and unexpectedly) from contact with the poorest Kenyan populations who didn’t even have bank accounts. A great many of them used ‘m-banking’ to gain financial independence which led to the M-Pesa service having over 22.6 million users in Kenya in 2019 – almost two-thirds of the adult population. A few hours after the president’s announcement, M-Pesa decided to drastically reduce its usage fees and to remove the daily transaction volume limit across the board in order to increase cash flow.
    • kaoutarchennoufi
      kaoutarchennoufi on 13 Feb 21
       
      M-Pesa has made the decision to increase its cash flow by reducing its usage fees and removing the daily transaction volume limit across the board. However, I think that it is not a good strategy to reach that goals. They need to follow other ways such as encouraging E-payments, paying less their suppliers, offer discounts, increase their fees..
« First ‹ Previous 41 - 42 of 42
Showing 20▼ items per page