Published by: http://www.worldbank.org/

By: Samuel Maimbo, Tania Saranga, and Nicholas Strychacz

The use of mobile banking in Southern Africa is widely recognized as an increasingly important component of national and regional economic development.

Mobile banking can benefit countries in two key ways: First, mobile banking may enable faster and more efficient financial transfers, increasing the volume of trade and subsequent payments to workers
and their families. This dynamic is especially important for informal trade, which is practiced primarily by low-income, unbanked international, regional, and domestic migrants.

Second, mobile banking greatly increases access to finance for a large segment of the unbanked populace in developing countries. In Africa, where borders often were drawn arbitrarily, cross-border trade is an important business activity for a large subset of the population.

Developing mobile banking capacity offers great potential for facilitating trade in both goods and financial services.