BOTSWANA: Mobile money transactions top P33bn

Mobile money services, currently offered by Orange, Mascom, Botswana Telecommunications Limited, and BotswanaPost, are amongst the fastest growing solutions in the financial sector, witnessing increasing transaction values on an annual basis.

The Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority's (BOCRA) 2024 annual report shows that in the year to March 2024, the pace of growth in the mobile money sector continued the explosive trends seen in previous years.

“Owing to the convergence between technology and financial services, mobile money is now interoperable with traditional bank accounts which brings about the much-needed convenience for users,” the authority said. “Cross-border transactions are also possible, making mobile money an even more attractive and widely accepted option in payment processes.”

BOCRA officials noted that the rise in mobile money transactions has been helped by their convenience for the unbanked, a segment of the population outside the formal banking sector.

The jump in the value of mobile money transactions comes even as subscribers decline in the country for the first time since the services were introduced.

According to BOCRA’s latest figures, the number of mobile money accounts grew by 46% between March 2019 and March 2023. However, in the year to March 2024, the subscriptions declined by 33%.

Whilst BOCRA did not provide reasons for the decline, industry analysts believe the reduction was due to a data clean-up conducted by the regulator last year. The clean-up involved auditing legitimate telecomms subscribers and their associated mobile money accounts, using the updated 'Know Your Customer' due diligence protocols.

The verified figures show that Orange’s popular Orange Money service increased its lead as the country’s most popular mobile money service, with a 78% market share as at March 2024, compared to 11% for Mascom’s MyZaka and seven percent for BTCL’s Smega. BotswanaPost’s PosoMoney service had a four percent market share over the period.

By comparison, in the year to March 2023, Orange had a 49% market share, followed by Mascom at 38%, BTC at 11%, and BotswanaPost at two percent.

“The huge shift in market share was due to a data clean-up exercise that differentiates registered and active subscribers,” BOCRA officials explained. Orange CEO, Néné Maïga, previously told BusinessWeek that the group aimed to keep ahead of its competitors by partnering with a growing number of other service providers to give customers more convenience.

“As you add more services, the Water Utilities, the instant loans and other partnerships like with Absa, Standard Chartered and others, the more convenient it is, especially when it is on a simple, easy to use platform,” she said in a previous interview. “Orange Money is a platform and we have no qualms whatsoever to partner with reputable financial institutions. “Our goal is to be able to offer the maximum number of services with the highest quality to as many people as possible. “You always have to keep your eye on the customer, on what brings convenience and what makes sense.”