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Harare, Zimbabwe
Although mobile money has become the main trading platform in Zimbabwe, its weaknesses have been highlighted this week after the dominant EcoCash network in Zimbabwe dropped for two years. days.
EcoCash, which competes with state-controlled telecommunications companies, NetOne and Telecel Zimbabwe, has over eight million registered users in Zimbabwe and allows remittances from Zimbabwean expatriates. South Africa and Botswana
. In recent days, the EcoCash platform has experienced problems, which Econet has attributed to the "scheduled maintenance" of the system that powers the platform, with just about all service options under EcoCash, affecting heavily commercial transactions in Zimbabwe and
Shoppers had been stranded in supermarkets and other s torres for more than two days, but the situation has improved since. Econet has endeavored to explain the problem caused by a planned system update and that it is now back in operation. But the frustrations are great, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter giving wide access to anxiety against Econet.
Some grocery stores abandoned at Pick N Pay (CBD) in the past hour due to problems with Ecocash. Given the dominance of the market by Ecocash and the lack of money in the country, today Zimbabwe was CLOSED for business ? pic.twitter.com/iF7L3hv5Qu
– Larry Moyo (@larry_moyo) July 3, 2018
In the past six years, EcoCash has spent up to $ 23 billion, officials said, providing a significant source of revenue for the company Econet Wireless, billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, who manages it. As Kenya's M-Pesa, better known, the Zimbabwe EcoCash allows payments and transactions ranging from bill payments, merchant payments and microinsurance to banking as part of an interconnected platform with most of the financial services companies of the country.
said that digital means of payment, driven by mobile money, accounted for more than 90% of transactions of $ 97.5 billion in total value for Zimbabwe in 2017. Out of a billion financial transactions processed last year, more than three quarters, with 754 million payments, platforms. In terms of value, mobile money platforms have processed up to $ 18 billion, or $ 5.8 billion in 2016.
Disruption of a platform The dominant financial issue has raised serious questions in Zimbabwe about the vulnerabilities inherent in mobile money. given the dominance of a mobile wallet over others. As with large digital platforms such as social media or content providers, a so-called "network effect" tends to give the leading mobile money provider additional benefits and efficiencies through compared to competitors. This has been seen with the success of Safaricom's M-Pesa mobile money platform in Kenya where it holds more than 80% of the market.
Much of the debate in Zimbabwe online and elsewhere has been about a real risk of money loss from a large platform crush. Zimbabwe's long turbulent history with currency and hyperinflation has made the average citizen more susceptible to any presumed existential threat to the country's financial system. Some have even suggested that bitcoin is a solution at risk, although Zimbabwe has virtually paralyzed crypto transactions by prohibiting banks from processing virtual payments in foreign currency
. by African governments, development consultants and various NGOs and investors, to encourage the adoption of mobile money services as a means to help expand financial inclusion in countries where too much few people have official bank accounts. The hope is that mobile phone penetration continues to increase in most African countries and that more people will use mobile money for convenience and transaction costs.
The Zimbabwean economy remains on the brink. receive forex in their accounts. There have also been discussions, which the central bank has rejected, that the administration of President Emerson Mnangagwa plans to bring the Zimbabwean dollar back before the elections of [30juillet1965] . But the EcoCash glitches were real and the big impact
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