Ghana's mobile money transactions double to $35 billion

desmond frimpong

February 8, 2018 12:09 PM

This development has seen the volume of deposits and withdrawals rise 78 percent to about 982 million.

Data published by the central bank of Ghana reveals that the value of deposits and withdrawals by Ghanaians using mobile phones for banking almost doubled in 2017.

According to the Bank of Ghana data, the value of mobile transactions rose to 155.8 billion cedis ($34.6 billion) last year from 78.5 billion cedis in 2016.

The growth in the use of phones for banking in Ghana comes as mobile money continues to expand across sub-Saharan African and has been a key tool in advancing financial inclusion, GSMA Intelligence said in a report last year.

The patronage of mobile money continues to gain momentum, as for the sixth year running the value of transactions has seen an astronomical jump.

The value of mobile money transactions when put into perspective is more than a third of the total deposit liabilities of the 28 banks as at the end of 2014.

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Currently, four of the six mobile telcos - MTN, Airtel, Tigo and Vodafone - are involved in the mobile money business, which has grown from a transaction value of $39 million in 2012 to the multi-billion dollar sector it is now.

Other companies such as Afric Xpress and e-Transact Ghana are also riding on the back of mobile phone popularity with the country's estimated 28-million population.

desmond frimpong

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