The year 2020 was one of the most difficult years Uganda had to experience in regards to different sectors especially the economy. However, the mobile money sector recorded the highest number of mobile money transactions in Uganda by end of December implying that there were a few wins to note.
In December 2020, the mobile money sector recorded the highest number of mobile money transactions in Uganda yet, along with the highest value of mobile money transactions. The mobile money business that is under the Fintech sector is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Uganda employing around 200,000 agents.
Also read: Government proposes new tax on ATM withdrawals in Uganda.
According to Daily Monitor, the highest number on record of mobile money transactions in Uganda was in December 2020. In reference to Bank of Uganda data, the value of transactions grew by 28.2 per cent last year while transactions grew by 25 per cent in the same year.
This implies a steady recovery from the huge blow as a result of the coronavirus restrictions that saw the government imposing a total lockdown on the country for 14 days. The tight restrictions like curfew time that starts at 09:00 pm saw many people working for fewer hours since they had to leave work early.
There was also a reduction in the number of transactions as a result of the lockdown on businesses despite efforts by Telecom companies like Airtel and MTN to remove deposit and withdraw charges to make life easier during the pandemic. Since many people were not working, the number of transactions automatically reduced because there was less cash flow among people.
Mobile money transactions in Uganda increased to Shs 3.5bn
The mobile money transactions in Uganda have grown from 2.8 billion in 2019 to 3.5 billion transactions by the end of 2020. Not only did the number of transactions grow, so did the value of transactions which grew from Shs 73trillion in 2019 to Shs 93.7 trillion by end of 2020.
Balances on customers mobile money accounts grew from Shs 0.458trillion to Shs 0.77trillion which shows how more people embraced the use of mobile money accounts as their primary transaction accounts majorly because of the covid-19 pandemic that limited movements.
This could be attributed to the recovery of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) a few months after the total lockdown as many business owners tried to pick up the pieces of what was left. Businesses picked up slowly with increased cash flow among the public.
READ: A look at the SafeBoda privacy policy under close scrutiny.