Mobile money agents in Uganda are earning more than their peers in the region, a new survey has found.
“The strategy to serve multiple providers is paying off,” said the Agent Network Accelerator Survey (ANA) Report 2015 released recently. “Ugandan agents enjoy the highest profits compared to other East African peers”.
While those who work for one service provider make an average monthly profit of $47, those that serve more than one al- most double their profits at $90.
In Kenya, the agents make $77 while Tanzania $70 monthly profit. It also indicated that 93 per cent mobile money agents see themselves remaining in business because it is paying.
“Agents are optimistic about the business; the majority foreseeing themselves being an agent in one year’s time, yet worry about competition and unpredictable client demand,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the report shows that digital finance space in Uganda has matured – especially in the telecoms sector – with the number of mobile commerce agents doubling from 2013 to last year.
At least 100,000 people are employed directly as mobile commerce agents, according to industry data. The survey was based on 2,200 agent interviews conducted in the last quarter of 2015.
“Our mobile money platform has turned out as a very fast entry point for employment across the country for the young people. But we must intensify on training them to extend professional service to our growing volume of customers,” said Juliet Tumuzoire, MTN mobile money manager.
Rashim Gupta, a digital finance consultant, said: “provision of incentives to the mobile wallet agents in respect to their level of services, can be of help.”
The findings also state that at least 79 per cent of agents in Kampala serve more than one provider – there has been a major drop in exclusivity compared to 2013. Agents can now work for MTN, Airtel, UTL and other service providers at once. At least Shs 32.5 trillion was transacted through mobile commerce last year, according to Bank of Uganda.
“We need that convergence as service providers on digital finance; otherwise, we may end up depriving the public keen on the service in different parts of the country,” said UTL’s M-Sente manager Peter Kakaire.
The report, however, says more agents need to be trained. It notes that less than 45 per cent of agents in Uganda obtain refresher training compared to 73 per cent in Tanzania.
More than half of the agents in Uganda reported to have been defrauded. “Fraud continues to plague mobile money business in Uganda,” said the report, adding that better-performing agents were more susceptible to fraud. Christopher Musoke, the executive director of Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU), said the constraints at the retail of mobile commerce need more attention.
“This would mutually benefit them as business entities, and also the millions of Ugandans, now keen on better services of the money transfers,” Musoke said.
The ANA Uganda survey is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, FSDU, International Finance Corporation, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
