The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) announced Friday that it would launch next week a comprehensive study on mobile banking in Africa.
The launch will take place at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa as a side-event to the African Union Summit which is being organized this year under the theme, “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development.”
The new study called “M-Banking, an African Financial Revolution” assesses the status and potential for growth of mobile electronic commerce in Senegal, Kenya and South Africa.
“It examines the wireless technologies deployed as well as their advantages and disadvantages, the growth potential for the mobile telephony sector and rollout plans in the countries surveyed,” according to ECA.
The study analyzes the mobile market with a focus on how the innovation taking place in creating mobile-commerce opportunities opens up new revenue streams especially in rural and remote areas.
One key observation is that reduction of poverty can be enhanced if communication services, including mobile banking, access the rural areas and are affordable to the urban poor.
ECA said that the study responds to concerns regarding the kind of policy requirements needed to sustain efforts in developing the mobile-banking sector and make it a tool for promoting economic development in Africa.
“M-Banking-An African Financial Revolution’’ is published on behalf of the ICT, Science and Technology Division of ECA, the Centre for African Studies-Copenhagen University, in collaboration with International Books.
