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Report: Only 30% of Nigerians use mobile money

The use of mobile money is growing steadily in Nigeria and across Africa, the latest report by Ericsson has established. However, in Nigeria, only 30 per cent of the population are using the electronic payment platform as of 2021.

 

According to the report, the level of usage in Nigeria is low compared to other top African countries that have embraced mobile for financial transactions. Besides, Ericsson said its research found that 23 per cent of the country’s population are unaware of mobile money as a channel of financial transactions.

 

In Ghana, mobile money has reached 90 per cent of the population, while Ivory Cost recorded 79 per cent. Senegal’s mobile money usage stood at 75 per cent, according to Ericsson, while Angola recorded 47 per cent. Ethiopia was the least in mobile money usage as it recorded eight per cent.

 

To arrive at the report, Ericsson said it surveyed 3,200 consumers across six sub-Saharan African countries – Senegal, Angola, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Ethiopia – to assess the growth of mobile financial services in light of technology and infrastructure gains across the region, as well as the COVID-19 impact on financial behaviour. Ericsson said about half of consumers in sub-Saharan Africa use mobile money, based on the countries surveyed.

 

“When comparing 2015 and 2021’s data, mobile money usage has tripled in Ghana, quadrupled in Angola, and increased tenfold (from low levels) in Nigeria.

 

“Today, this survey shows that consumers in Ghana have the highest usage levels, at 90 per cent. Meanwhile, this is about 80 per cent for Ivory Coast and Senegal, while Nigeria and Ethiopia are still in the early stages of establishing mobile money use. Furthermore, most non-users are now at least aware of mobile money, which was not the case in 2015,” Ericsson stated.

 

Ericsson noted in the report that sub-Saharan Africa has been at the forefront of the mobile money industry for over a decade and multi-source traffic data confirm the technology’s rise in the region.

 

According to the report, during 2020, there were 27.4 billion transactions in the region, an increase of 15 per cent within a year. The transaction value was $490 billion, almost a quarter above the previous year, according to GSMA’s 2021 report.

 

The GSMA report also states that in 2020, there were 157 live mobile money services in sub-Saharan Africa, up nine per cent from 144 in 2019. “To put this into perspective, this is more than half of all live services in the world. There are now 548 million registered accounts in the region, a 12 per cent increase during the last year.

 

The title “epicenter of mobile money” is more than justified, as the region continues to account for the majority of growth, with 43 per cent of all new accounts in the world,” Ericsson said.

 

It further disclosed that mobile money app downloads continue to multiply across the region, which is another way of confirming the growth in mobile money usage in the region. Ericsson cited an example of a mobile money app in Nigeria, which started with 7,375 downloads in 2017 and recorded almost three million by February 2021.

 

It cited another exampl   of a mobile money app in Ghana, which had a 10.2 times increase in downloads between 2016 and 2021. Commenting on the report,

 

Vice President and Head of Digital Services, Ericsson Middle East and Africa Lucky La Riccia, said: “This new research underlines the significant empowering role that mobile financial services play in Sub-Saharan Africa, both in combating the impact of the pandemic and in fuelling economic development across Africa through the transformational potential of expanded and affordable access to financial solutions.

 

“Our aim is to support the digitalisation of Africa through technologies such as mobile broadband. Ericsson’s mobile financial solutions support this aim as we accelerate financial inclusion,” he added

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