NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Until recently, young children have been saving small amounts of cash on piggy banks or in physical banks through junior accounts that only allowed limited withdrawals at scheduled times of the year.

Now, African telecom operators have started re-imagining these accounts, lining up digital junior wallets to allow young individuals aged below 18 years old to make much more frequent transactions over mobile phones.

Operators in Kenya and Zimbabwe are leading this revolution that could unlock a new layer of untapped customer base- that could also be fast driving Africa’s population growth.

Kenya’s giant telco by subscriber base, Safaricom, on 26th November launched M-Pesa Go, targeting teens and preteens aged between 10 to 17 years. The financial product is latched to M-Pesa App, its mobile money platform.

Photo courtesy of Joslyn Pickens.