Something to ponder on... ---------- Forwarded message --------- What Are the Top 4 Mobile Money Purchases by African Youth? <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=42f32dd596&e=be896e5eca> *By Wayan Vota on January 15, 2020* [image: mobile money program] Digital financial services <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=0a3b2b8536&e=be896e5eca> in sub-Saharan Africa are changing rapidly with diversity in usage and uptake on such a diverse continent. Recently, GeoPoll embarked on a study to examine how Africa’s youth in six nations are engaging with financial services. In The State of Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=c7b5678ffc&e=be896e5eca>, GeoPoll presents the findings from an extensive mobile web survey in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire with around 400 youth aged 18-35 from each country. Thus, the data focuses on populations who have access to a mobile phone and basic internet services, which often represents the target population for retail banks and mobile money services <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=0b6c4a3a94&e=be896e5eca> . While topics studied included income streams, spending habits, payment types, investment decisions, savings patterns, and more, there is one graphic that especially surprising. Top 4 Mobile Money Purchases by African Youth [image: mobile money purchases african youth] GeoPoll <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=6a41d5412c&e=be896e5eca> found a surprising consistency across all six countries, where mobile money has a 28% average use rate. Youth <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=13cadb598a&e=be896e5eca> in each country spent most of their mobile money on very similar products. Mobile money was the most popular payment method for: - Gambling – 63% of respondents used mobile money for online gambling - Home Internet – 54% of respondents paid for internet access using mobile money - Mobile phone airtime – 53% of respondents logically used mobile money for airtime - Paid television services – 53% of respondents bought preium TV using mobile money Mobile money was used least as a payment method for non-digital purchases, such as transportation (10%), non- alcoholic beverages (12%), clothing (13%) and groceries (13%). The Troubling Rise of Online Gambling The GeoPoll results tie in with other reports that gambling overall – on and offline – is a real problem across the continent. Sports betting in particular, is fueled by enthusiasm for wagering on European football teams and punters rely almost entirely on mobile money to make bets and collect winnings. Kenya’s youth are the biggest gamblers on the African continent <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=8c99d00711&e=be896e5eca>, and over 12-million betting account holders lose an estimated $2 Billion annually. The top 12 sports betting and gambling websites in Kenya have total financial turnover above 250 billion, more than the national recurrent budget! The rise of mobile-money powered betting is causing an equal rise in gambling-related social ills <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=42fd7ddd05&e=be896e5eca>, including addiction, poverty, and mental anguish, including suicide. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has even said he would support a complete ban on gambling in the country, though many see the tax-centric threats and actions <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=159b5c8f8b&e=be896e5eca> as a thinly-disguised tax shakedown versus a real concern for public welfare. The post What Are the Top 4 Mobile Money Purchases by African Youth? <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=f784196450&e=be896e5eca> appeared first on ICTworks <https://ictworks.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=caf47f0e14&e=be896e5eca> . What Do Others Think? 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