Mobile money payments in Zambia have grown to an annual average of 126% in value, from K2.07 billion in 2015 to K49.45 billion in 2019.

This is according to the country’s Central Bank which confirms significant growth in digital financial services.

Speaking at the launch of the Zambia digital economic diagnostic report, Central Bank governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya said as at the end of last year, the number of active mobile money wallets had increased to about 14 million and about 4.9 million were actively transacting, representing a 34% of the total registered mobile money wallets.

Kalyalya added that the digital financial services landscape in Zambia has drastically changed, as the usage of digital channels for the delivery of payments and financial services has grown considerably.

He said the majority of commercial banks have developed and deployed mobile money applications that their customers use to access financial services, and e-money issuers are capitalising on smart and feature phones to offer these services.

He said the performance of these other electronic payment streams such electronic fund transfers have equally recorded remarkable growth, with annual average growth of 35% in value from K21.83 billion processed in 2015 to K67.81 billion processed in 2019.

“From these statistics, it can clearly be demonstrated that there is great potential in Zambia to have more people financially included through digital channels and ultimately in the digital economy. I therefore urge all stakeholders to focus on harnessing the potential of financial inclusion through scaling up the uptake of ICTs,” said Kalyalya.

World Bank country manager for Zambia Sahr Kpundeh said the country’s digital economic diagnosis report was prepared before COVID-19 outbreak but it is even more relevant now because under the current circumstances, digitalisation has offered an opportunity for contactless business continuity.