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Moving beyond cash in Africa.

Publication: The Banker
Publication Date: 01-SEP-09 		Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access

Article Excerpt
Byline: Wendy Atkins

Mention the methods of payments used in sub-Saharan Africa and for many people it will probably conjure up images of wads of cash changing hands in street markets. But although the majority of sub-Saharan African countries are still cash-driven, significant advances are being made thanks to innovations on the ground by telcos, microfinance companies and banks, as well as reforms led by central banks across the continent.

Reform and modernisation of a payments system is no easy task, as Stephen Mwaura Nduati, head of the National Payments System at the Central Bank of Kenya, points out: "There are many stakeholders with a host of their own needs. The provider wants a return on investment. The consumer wants to access services. The country wants to see gross domestic product [GDP] growth and the central bank wants a stable financial system."

Get it right and you are commended for bold moves in the payments sector; get it wrong and you will be accused of being reckless. "Central banks' strategies lay the foundation which drives the various modernisation projects," says Alice D Zanza, senior payment systems specialist for financial and private sector development at the World Bank. "Typically there is a phased plan...

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