CEEG Seminar Series: The role of mobile money in reducing economic inequality in Mozambique

On Wednesday 10 August 2022, Moisés Siúta, PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town, will present his recent study on the role of mobile money in reducing economic inequality in Mozambique.

The seminar is part of the CEEG Seminar Series, organized under the Inclusive growth in Mozambique (IGM) programme. The seminars offer a forum to share and discuss ongoing research on topics related to the work of the IGM programme and to foster a culture of research at the faculty and at UEM in general.

The series takes place at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Eduardo Mondlane (UEM). It is a public event open to everyone. The presentation will be given in Portuguese.

About the study

The study assesses the role of mobile money in reducing economic inequality in Mozambique. It focuses on the one hand on how mobile money services help improve households’ access to income-earning opportunities and access to basic services (such as education, health, and electricity); on the other hand, it assesses how mobile money services help to reduce inequality in access to financial services and products.

Using data from the 2019 Financial Inclusion Survey (Finscope 2019), the study shows that mobile money services have improved households’ access to basic services in Mozambique, enabling cash transfers between household members and risk sharing. The use of mobile money services also contributes to reducing inequality in access to financial services and products such as deposits, withdrawals, and transfers between people with regular income (generally accepted by banks) and people with irregular income (excluded from banks).

The author however notes that the fact that financial products such as insurance, savings and loans are not yet available to mobile money users represents a constraint to reducing economic inequality through income-generating opportunities for poor and vulnerable households.