“It’s not about one company’s growth, it’s about the market’s growth. Various actors come together to propel the market forward,” is what Zeepay Managing Director Andrew Takyi-Appiah said in a meeting with several digital finance regulators, providers and policymakers. And these words were echoed all throughout the week-long exposure tour to Ghana, where a selection of Zambia’s digital finance services (DFS) actors visited similar businesses and institutions in Ghana.

The objectives of this knowledge exchange visit were to learn how digital financial services can be better delivered to underserved and unserved people, enabling for example to digital payments for utilities and other critical products. Each visitor to Ghana came with their own perspective and idea of what they aimed to take away from this intense exposure visit, but the overall aim was the same: to boost the growth of digital economies and enhance knowledge and use of digital financial services in Zambia.

Ghana has a more robust DFS sector than Zambia being that the World Bank has recognized Ghana as the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa over the last five years. In addition, Ghana is the first country in the world to enact a Digital Financial Services Policy that explicitly states the government’s intentions regarding digital financial services and their integration into other sectors that are critical for the country’s development. The policy is overseen by the Ministry of Finance but brings together a broad range of stakeholders including other ministries, regulators, private sector players and consumer groups. Coupled with key market enablers such as good internet connectivity, solid payment platforms and continual policy reform, Ghana’s market leader is able to deliver a large agent network of 240,000 mobile money agents and 200,000 merchants to serve its population. These factors make Ghana a good example to learn from.

The heads of Zambia’s three mobile network operators’ mobile money divisions Airtel, MTN and Zamtel, critiqued and analysed the Zambian market based on what they heard and learned from Ghanaian operators. One would think the exchange between these companies would involve preserving their position in the market, however, the three operators shared views and brainstormed on what would work better in Zambia. In the words of Komba Malukutila, Head of Digital Finance at MTN Zambia, “This is not a competition discussion, it’s an industry discussion. When we leave the (meeting) room, we’re talking about how to build Zambia. We are in Ghana to accelerate the Zambia story.”

Key learnings and best practices shared
Catalyzing market growth was a theme of this learning and exchange visit and is a topic of conversation that has come up between market players over the last few months.

While the industry agrees that growth is essential, the process leading to growth has yet to be discovered. By attending various engagements with their counterparts in this other market, Zambian DFS stakeholders were able to have candid exchanges and open discussions about what would be required to see the kind of digital transformation exhibited in Ghana. For example, the Central Bank representative was able to continually expound on the vision of the National Financial Switch underway in Zambia and how it will lead to interoperable systems, which are seen widely in the Ghanaian market. Full interoperability currently missing in Zambia.

An example of how the Ghanaian Government enables interoperability is the standard policy that each agent must serve all networks. With plans in place to enable interoperability at the agent touchpoint this will boost opportunities even further. This strategic policy decision was made to advance market development and remove certain barriers, subsequently enhancing transformation and attracting more players into the sector.

The entire ecosystem contributes to a digital economy and the private sector also plays a key role. In a meeting with the Ghana Water Company, Zambian participants heard how the utility provider implemented innovative digital payments solutions based on customer needs, before policies were introduced by the government and regulators. This pushed for change at both industry and policy levels simultaneously, demonstrating that market development can continue while policies are being designed or introduced. Customer needs can be solved while policy change occurs, thus continuing industry growth.

With a 30 percent increase in active mobile money accounts from March 2020 to June 2020, Zambia’s digital finance market is primed for growth, and the participants who went on the exposure tour emphasize the importance of strategic growth that brings as many people as possible into the market. Simple use cases such as utilities payments can be an easy entry-point for new DFS subscribers, and the market could benefit from other value-added services that provide more opportunities for digital and financial inclusion, such as municipality and school fees payments, among many others.

In discussing how to increase access to digital services, Saqib Nazir, Managing Director of Emergent Payments Ghana, met with the Zambia delegation. He explained how Emergent Payments has operated in Ghana over recent years, with a key message: “Policymakers can incentivise going digital to further drive the adoption of digital.”

Zambian participants agreed that such incentives can be a driver of adoption and would push policymakers to make this a reality to spur inclusive growth.

The Government of Ghana’s vision with regards to digitalization and financial inclusion has driven Ghana’s success in the DFS space. Zambia’s leadership is not too far off from providing this type of support and oversight to the market. In recent months, the government has repositioned digital and innovation by establishing new government ministries to address digital inclusion, support to MSMEs and increased use of technology to advance Zambia’s development. The expectation is that these new departments will have a critical role in addressing policy and industry measures to catalyse Zambia’s digital transformation, building a truly inclusive digital economy. Key market players had an opportunity to examine another country’s digital transformation during this exchange visit, and now have an increased drive to collaborate more closely to spur the digital economy in Zambia.