Mobile Banking and the African Market

One year ago when I wrote a post on UBA and Mobile Banking, it was little regarded. MTN had just launched its own platform; MTN Mobile Money; all these of course behind Kenya's M-Pesa,-the system which revolutionized rural banking in Kenya. 

Today, almost a year later I read this in the New Vision. The question is whether it makes sense that a technology that was available two years ago and licenses were issued , and yet only one more company has managed to launch the Mobile money service. 

Zain's which is built on a regional platform is clearly the most competitive. MTN's Mobile still struggles with product consistency and pricing reactions. There are  also the overhead challenges of literacy and adoption, which have forced the market leaders to invest large amounts in public education and awareness campaigns. The danger I see in this for new entrants like Uganda Telecom is the lack of industry insights and the clear gap between the stalwarts and freshies.

But what does it say for the industry going forward?

My view is that until the phone companies can invest in a translated Sim card which speaks at least 2 local languages/dialects, they will continue to suffer. This is of course not easy because of the absence of a unifying local language. it also points to the unique market landscape that is Uganda. In many ways Uganda serves as microcosm of the greater African problem. The absence of significant language blocks has been a pitfall to a lot of communication executions.

Secondly, while a lot of market figures show Uganda's young population and project it to explode in the next few years due to an albeit interesting mix of prurient factors, the fact remains that westernization or whatever is causing this population to have this much sex is not about to stop, Work with stakeholders it address the population issue, then plan to maximize each individuals income per capita through empowerment, education and improvement of quality of life. Then you can milk them. 

But why all that hustle? Why invest all that money in order to get a small part of the market share? Because when it’s all said and done, the small segment you get will be a loyal, committed segment. Which is problem number 3: LOYALTY. The absence of brand loyalty in a lot of emerging markets can be attributed to a lot of factors (unstable political histories, illiteracy, cultural nuances, fear and superstitions, etc) and while its every business' big nightmare, it is not out of reach for a brand to nurture a loyal, committed customer base. No one just wants to pay for it.

And so my answer to UTL and the other Telecom companies out there reaping big in Uganda is this: there is a much bigger market called Africa, unbanked, uneducated, unlinked and in a lot of cases unbothered by you. If you must drink that juice, you must squeeze that fruit.

In order to reach Africa's most basic consumer, you need to come from above the line marketing to the line, and then take your communication through the line and below it. Reach the guy whose greatest problem is cattle dip vet solutions. Help him address his issues not just be a statistic in your marketing sheet. Then you will have made a real difference. It is my belief that only then will it all come together; because bottom up approaches never failed anywhere.