Do Customers and Suppliers Adopt Mobile Money?: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

The proliferation of mobile phone technology has not only improved communication in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also has steered a transformation of how firms carry out their financial transactions. A region that once lagged in telecommunication infrastructure has now witnessed a widespread use of mobile technology. The people’s acceptance of a mobile phone in their daily lives, combined with the comfort of using mobile phones has led to a rapid adoption of mobile money. In this paper, we use a World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys (2013) data set, to analyze the customers and suppliers that use mobile money for their financial transactions. The objective is to investigate and identify the nature of the firms that use the service. Before an analysis is conducted, suppliers are separated using variables such as firm age, firm size, sector type, and legal status. The results indicate that smaller firms, limited partnerships, and sole proprietorships are more likely to use mobile money services to pay their suppliers. When compared to medium- and large-sized firms, smaller firms are also more likely to receive money from customers via mobile money. Finally, the results of the comparison of firms by sector type conclude that manufacturing and retail firms are more likely to use mobile money than service firms