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

Friday, January 12, 2018

Zimbabwe’s Econet Wireless, touted by analysts as best placed to develop mobile money offerings alongside Safaricom, has opened a mobile money bond purchase platform in partnership with Untu Capital to raise US$1 million in support of local start-ups – specifically to address the low level of funding in this space.

Purchases for the u-Gain bond start from US$50 and can be transacted via mobile wallets on the EcoCash platform which has over 5 million registered subscribers.

In a text message sent to subscribers on Wednesday, EcoCash said bonds could be purchased via mobile phones and subscribers could earn interest.

“Our customers will, over a 30-day period, be able to use their phones to buy U-Gain bonds that they will redeem after a 12-month period for a 9 percent interest, way above the interest depositors currently earn with most banks,” said Natalie Jabangwe, the head of EcoCash.

Analysts at Exotix Capital say African telcos have to integrate “other payment offerings already in the market, such as banks” into their platforms to derive move value.

Photo courtesy of Scott Mainwaring.