Country: Multi Africa
Region: Africa
Type of Client: International Organization
Year: July 2012 — July 2014
Region Information
Africa is composed of developing countries bordering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world’s human population. In 2018, the African Development Bank reported Africa to be the world’s second-fastest growing economy and estimated that real output growth increased by 3.6 percent in 2017, up from 2.2 percent in 2016, and should accelerate to 4.1 percent in 2018 and 2019.
Project Information
This multi-country project aimed to advance financial inclusion by supporting the scaling-up of existing Mobile Financial Services (MFS) initiatives and the development of new Microfinance-initiated MFS initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Project/Services We Provided
A multi-country project aimed to advance financial inclusion by supporting the scaling-up of existing Mobile Financial Services (MFS) initiatives and the development of new Microfinance-initiated MFS initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective was to help them address the most critical challenges faced by their MFS operation: agent management, customer inactivity, product innovation, ecosystem expansion etc.
Amarante supported 4 MFIs define their alternative channels strategies, develop a detailed implementation plan and engage with potential partners. The most important aspects covered in the strategy phase were:
- Review of market context, customer needs, and competitive landscape
- Detailed review of the regulatory environment
- Identification of channel models that best supported the core business of microfinance organizations: respective weight of agent/mobile channels; partnership strategy with mobile operators, banks, retail organizations and other payment service providers (including postal services)
- Internal capabilities assessment: HR, risk management, systems, product development, marketing, customer service
- Recommendation of the most relevant channel approach
- Financial projections and detailed implementation plan
Amarante also engaged in discussions with MNOs and Financial Institutions on the scaling upstream and was involved in detailed assessments with 3 MFS implementations.