Mobile Money at AfricaCom 2013

Africa is a complex continent; fraught with many unique challenges, of which just two are communications and financial inclusion. Addressing both in a single cohesive offering is a fast-track solution for driving economic growth and social development for the general populace, for delivering lucrative and quick profits for mobile operators and banking institutions and for providing an unexpected additional source of revenue for governments.

More than a billion customers in developing markets across the African continent have access to a mobile phone, but do not have a formal bank account. This has led to the development of mobile money applications. For example, SafariCom's M-Pesa in Kenya, which has proved highly successful, earning the operator significant revenue while facilitating access to financial resources and instruments by its users.

Empowering women entrepreneurs

This growth is being replicated elsewhere too. Mobile phone penetration is prolific and has connected sectors of the population previously hard to reach. Another prime example is marginalised female audiences, who now have access to means of communication and are entering the economy for the first time. This means they are able to start small businesses and monitor market prices or even use their burgeoning entrepreneurial skills to become mobile money agents. In short, the development of mobile money has led to key social and economic progress across the continent, the impact of which is being keenly watched by the rest of the world.

Mobile money services not only play a huge role in economic growth, they are also defining how people do business in the 21st century because they are sustainable, scalable and provide convenient and affordable financial services to previously overlooked informal economies.

The progress in secure mobile (and electronic) financial services is also benefitting related sectors such as e- and m-commerce. Transactions are becoming simpler and safer, generating customer trust and satisfaction.

However, even though the mobile market is maturing, some barriers remain to the development of mobile money services, among which are network availability, interoperability, technology delays and regulatory restrictions.

Case studies, analysis of market potential

Recognising the importance of this growing sector, this new two-day event, Mobile Money, will bring together all stakeholders in the mobile money ecosystem. The programme includes presentations, case studies, analyses and interactive discussions to identify how to benefit from the major opportunities and overcome the challenges of the market in Africa.

Sessions will include the following topics:

• Assessing the m-money market drivers and barriers in Africa
  
• Examining the various business models for mobile payments and mobile banking
  
• Understanding the mobile money ecosystem and the role of the various stakeholders
  
• How mobile money services fit within mobile operators' strategies
  
• Regulating the m-money market: challenges and developments
  
• Technology developments and standardisation to deliver mobile money services
  
• New developments in the mobile money transfer and international remittance market
  
• Opportunities in contactless payments and NFC

Who should attend:

• Mobile network operators
  
• Banks & financial institutions
  
• Regulators and government bodies
  
• Payment networks
  
• Mobile application service and solutions providers
  
• Remittance service providers
  
• Mobile handset vendors
  
• POS terminal vendors
  
• Chipset vendors

For more information, go to www.comworldseries.com/africa.