A lack of international investment has enabled Somaliland to nurture, from the ground up, a locally unique and broadly successful mobile-money ecosystem. Spurred by zero commissions and a distinct lack of convenient alternatives, Telesom’s Zaad and Somtel’s e-Dahab are enabling new mobile money practices and behaviours that will reverberate well beyond its borders.
The following report, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, puts the adoption of mobile money into a social, economic and cultural perspective. Reading this report you’ll better understand:
- The rapid rate of adoption
- The disparity between formal growth rate and what is happening on the ground
- What it will take to have broad impact on financial inclusion
- The challenges ahead
Note: This report was commissioned, and research completed, in mid-2015. Recent changes in the financial landscape are therefore not reflected in our findings.
