Uganda’s mobile money transactions exponentially grew by a record 211 per cent in 2012, posting US$4.5 billion in transactions compared to US$1.4 billion the previous year.
This is according to Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda, Dr Louis Kasekende, while speaking at the release of MTN Uganda’s financial results for 2012.
Kasekende said the major players through which this money was transacted were MTN, Airtel, Warid and Uganda Telecom, with the growth an indication of the trust that Ugandans now have towards mobile money transfers.
He added mobile money has become the preferred method of money transfer compared to Western Union and banks due to its convenience and speed.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) places the number of mobile subscribers in the country at 15 million, with 8.9 million of them using mobile money transfer services. This number has been growing steadily from 1.8 million and 2.8 million in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
MTN Uganda has a large share of these mobile money subscribers, with its Chief Executive Officer, Mazen Maroue, stating that over 20 million transactions were carried out on the network by its 3.5 million mobile money subscribers in 2012.
This saw the teleco record a 60 per cent growth in revenues from mobile money. Despite the numerous mobile money fraud cases that are on the increase in the country, Kasekende assured the stakeholders that Bank of Uganda was working closely with UCC to fight fraud.
