LONDON, UK, 17 December 2015: New data from CGAP and Intermedia provides exciting new insights into Rwanda’s progress on financial inclusion. The report includes findings from a nation-wide Financial Inclusion Survey (FII) and compares Rwanda to its African peers – including Kenya and Tanzania, the two most successful Mobile Money markets in the world.
Key findings from the report include:
• 17% of Rwandan adults are active users of Mobile Money. The report suggests that low banking penetration has likely played a big role in the high adoption levels in Rwanda: only 16% of adults already have a bank account, and Mobile Money is often their only option when it comes to formal financial services.
• 72% of Rwanda’s active Mobile Money users live on less than $2.50 a day. Rwanda is applauded for its commitment to achieving broad access by some of the nation’s poorest and most isolated. 61% of Mobile Money users in Rwanda live in rural areas, compared to only 40% in Ghana.
• Rwanda has a higher rate of bill payments via Mobile Money (25%) than Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Africa’s biggest Mobile Money countries have an average bill payment usage of only 17% on average among active Mobile Money users.
• Rwanda is “punching above its weight” in terms of ‘readiness’ to adopt digital financial services. Over 80% of the population has the required ID to open a financial account and 87% have achieved basic numeracy skills. However, there is still progress to be made as only 47% of Rwandan adults currently own a mobile phone.
The report by CGAP also offers recommendations for driving further usage of Mobile Money by digitising payments that are commonly conducted in cash, such as insurance and savings. These together would make Rwanda one of the world’s most innovative and successful Mobile Money markets in the world.
Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at money transfer service WorldRemit, commented:
“This latest report from CGAP reflects the significant progress Rwanda has made in mobile financial services and financial inclusion. At WorldRemit, we already offer international money transfers to both Tigo Cash and MTN Mobile Money wallets in Rwanda, making sending money as easy as sending an instant message.
The Rwandan diaspora send home $179 million every year, the vast majority of which are cash transfers sent from high-street agents at extortionate cost. Mobile Money is now really changing this archaic state of affairs: WorldRemit allows people to send money from smartphones to a Mobile Money account in the blink of an eye, at low cost.
