Ghana outranks Kenya, Tanzania in World Bank-CGAP report on digital financial inclusion


The World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and Intermedia yesterday released an influential report detailing Ghana’s progress on financial inclusion and usage of Mobile Money.

At WorldRemit, the leading money transfer app, some key points about from the report and a comment from my colleague Ms Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst here at WorldRemit.

The new data from CGAP and Intermedia provides exciting new insights into Ghana’s progress on financial inclusion. 

The report includes findings from a nation-wide Financial Inclusion Survey (FII) and compares Ghana 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 Ghanaian adults are active users of Mobile Money. The report suggests that high banking penetration has likely played a role in Ghana’s adoption of Mobile Money: 34% of adults already have a bank account, and 45% of those individuals access it through mobile apps or the internet. 
 
•  Ghana’s active Mobile Money user-base has more than doubled in one year. CGAP expects Ghana’s positive progress to continue especially since new Mobile Money regulations were passed in July 2015 which have awakened policymakers of the critical role that Mobile Money plays in driving financial inclusion.
 
•  Ghana outranks Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania on four indicators of "mobile-readiness". According to CGAP Ghana is “the most digital financial services-ready country in Africa” when it comes to the key elements required for successful adoption: 92% of adults have the required ID necessary to open an account and 91% of Ghanaians already own a mobile phone (compared to only 74% and 72% in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively).
 
•  Ghana’s Mobile Money users are better-off than their African peers. 60% of Ghana’s active Mobile Money account holders live in urban areas, and only 19% live on less than $2.50 per day compared to 72% in Rwanda.  
 
The report by CGAP also offers recommendations for driving further usage of Mobile Money by digitizing payments that are commonly conducted in cash, such as insurance and savings. These together would make Ghana one of the worlds 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 Ghana has made in mobile financial services and financial inclusion. 
At WorldRemit, we already offer international money transfers directly to MTN Mobile Money wallets in Rwanda, making sending money as easy as sending an instant message.
The Ghanaian diaspora send home $126 million every year, the majority of which is still sent and collected at high-street agents and cash pick-up locations. 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.”


GBC