Context
Despite the success of mobile money in Sub-Saharan Africa, the full potential has not yet been unlocked. So far providers have focused on reaching scale by addressing the basic needs of unbanked individuals. There remains however a great opportunity to develop mobile money services to address enterprises’ needs.
In this context, the GSMA wished to assess the pain-points and financial services needs of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). To that end, the GSMA partnered with Sofrecom to conduct a quantitative and qualitative research on the topic in a Central African country with a thriving mobile money industry. The research aimed at:
- Understanding usages, perception, needs and expectations of MSMEs
- Mapping the opportunities, drivers and inhibitors for adoption
- Designing the key functionalities of a mobile money enterprise account
Methodology
Focus groups and face-to-face interviews
In a first phase, 8 focus groups were conducted. They gathered MSMEs senior professionals from five sectors: agriculture, commerce, road transportation, craftsmanship and services.
In a second phase, 200 quantitative interviews were conducted with a mix of formal and informal businesses, spanning urban and rural areas, with respondents who were banked as well as mobile money users. These interviews aimed at sizing potential demand and prioritizing the services and features identified in the first phase.
For this research, our consultants defined the methodology required and the recruitment criteria. They drafted the focus group and quantitative screeners, and finally analyzed the research outputs.
To ensure quality and consistency throughout the project, they also monitored the local partner in charge of recruiting participants, facilitating the focus groups and administrating the face-to-face questionnaires.
A key deliverable: a B2B mobile money service value proposition
Last but not least, based on the collected insights, our consultants drafted a high-level value proposition for a B2B mobile money service. Key features were selected according to 2 criteria: the level of interest among MSMEs and the ease of deployment.
Results
Thanks to this research, the GSMA has uncovered MSME’s specific expectations regarding mobile money and key usage barriers. Priority features have been clearly identified. The GSMA is now in a position to provide mobile operators with useful data and practical recommendations to address this valuable market segment.
