Airtel, an India-based telecommunications company that operates in Rwanda and 17 other countries in Africa and Asia, recently reported “a spike in data, mobile payments and voice [usage] during the lockdown” imposed by the Rwandan government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in mobile payments was encouraged by a March 15 instruction from the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR), the country’s central bank, that mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country waive all charges on person-to-person payments and other transfers to and from electronic wallets.
Insight2impact, a South Africa-based resource center harnessing data to promote financial inclusion in Africa and Asia, reportedly found the daily value of mobile transactions in Rwanda grew from RWF 10.7 billion (USD 11.2 million) to RWF 24 billion (USD 25.6 million) during the week starting March 15. By April, the daily total grew to RWF 40.3 billion (USD 43 million).
From February 16 through April, the daily value of mobile money transactions grew 485 percent while the total number of transactions increased 397 percent. From January to April, the value of cash-outs from mobile wallets fell by more than half.
Founded in 1964, NBR defines and implements monetary policy, mints currency, and supervises and regulates the country’s foreign exchange market and financial institutions. It also operates the Securities Exchange of Rwanda. As of October 2019, NBR reported total assets of USD 1.245 billion.
By Madigan Ruch, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
The Paypers article on digital payments in Rwanda
https://thepaypers.com/mobile-payments/rwanda-waives-charges-on-digital-payments-cash-competes-with-mobile-transactions–1242580
East African article on digital payments in Rwanda
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Digital-payments-compete-with-cash-in-Rwanda/2560-5562734-qe2filz/index.html
NBR annual reports
https://www.bnr.rw/news-publications/publications/annual-reports/
Insight2impact description
https://i2ifacility.org/about
Previous MicroCapital post on NBR
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-national-bank-rwanda-nbr-rolls-electronic-data-warehouse-automate-reporting-microfinance-traditional-financial-institutions/
Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at: https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: I&M Bank Enables Spenn Mobile App Users to Send Money to Financial Institutions Across Rwanda
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Lipa Later Acquires Fellow E-commerce, DFS, Merchant Services Platform Sky.Garden of Kenya for $1.6m
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: B2B Fintech Clowd9 Chooses Netcetera for Payments Security
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sama Money Acquires Première Agence de MicroFinance, Entering Microcredit Market in Mali
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: China Mobile’s Zong Unveils PayMax Payment Service in Pakistan
