Semi-Systematic Review of the Perceived Cost of Mobile Payment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Financial technology offers convenience, security, and affordability. In sub-Saharan Africa, mobile money is the flagship offering hypothesized to promote financial inclusion. Nonetheless, the persistent complaints from end-users about the cost associated with mobile money usage in the sub-region have gone under the radar. Therefore, using the semi-systematic review of news articles and blogs’ in direct content analysis, we explore the cost of mobile money usage in the sub-region. We examine the state of mobile charges and how it potentially reverses the original purpose of FinTech. Results indicate that governments and other stakeholders find mobile money charges to be high. The imposition of mobile money tax and the regressive structure of mobile money charges affect the poor. The effort of policymakers to reduce the cost of mobile money in the sub-region is ineffective because the FinTech market is dominated by few foreign-owned telecommunication companies. Thus, the creation and promotion of a domestic FinTech market are necessary to promote greater financial inclusion.