African mobile money market to reach US$14.27bn by 2020

A recent report by MarketsandMarkets has affirmed that the mobile money market in Africa will grow to US$14.27bn in the next five years

MarketsandMarkets’ report, Africa Mobile Money Market by Transaction mode (NFC/Smart Cards, Direct Mobile Billing, Mobile Web/WAP Payments, SMS, STK/USSD, and others), Nature of Payment, Location, Type of Purchase, and by Country - Forecast to 2020, said that the mobile money market in the continent is expected to grow at CAGR of 39.2 per cent for the next five years, growing from US$2.73bn in 2015 to US$14.27bn by 2020.

Kenya is likely to be the biggest market for mobile money in terms of overall market size, according to the report, while Mozambique, Madagascar, and Malawi are expected to experience increased market traction during the forecast period.

The growing availability of financial solutions on mobile phones has allowed mobile users to take timely business decisions and make faster financial transactions. The various mobile money services provided by mobile network operators, banks and payment processing agents are being used by both banked and un-banked customers using their mobile devices whose usage has become routine in the continent, added the report.

It has listed the major vendors of African mobile money market as Vodacom, Orange S.A., Airtel, Econet Wireless, Mcel, Tigo, Safaricom, MTN and Zantel. Major factors driving this market are the increase in mobile penetration, creation of new revenue stream for the stakeholders and rise in interoperability, the report specified.

MarketsandMarkets segments the Africa mobile money market by country, transaction mode, nature of payments, location type and type of purchase.