Project Info
Principal Investigators
Cátia Batista (Nova SBE)
Pedro Vicente (Nova SBE)
Field Coordination
Inês Vilela
Stefan Leefers
Julia Seither
Partners
Carteira Móvel
Funding
International Growth Center
Portuguese National Science Foundation
About this Project
A collaborative effort with Carteira Movel and the Central Bank of Mozambique
Carteira Movel, controlled by the main mobile phone operator in Mozambique, launched the first mobile money service in the country (branded mKesh). NOVAFRICA collaborated with Carteira Movel and the Central Bank of Mozambique to provide an in-depth study of several channels of impact of mobile money operations. In particular, we analyze the impact of bringing mobile money services to rural communities. Outcome variables of interest are savings and remote transfers, as well as consumption and investment patterns of individual users. We use randomized impact evaluation methods and tailored user surveys to assess the effects of the introduction of mobile money services. Our study spans across several provinces of the country (Gaza, Inhambane and Maputo).
To learn more about the implementation of the Introduction of Mobile Money in Mozambique research project in the video | initial working paper | initial policy brief.
In July 2015, the Central Bank of Mozambique, the International Growth Center and NOVAFRICA jointly organized a conference on the innovations and challenges faced in promoting financial development in Mozambique. The event offered international researchers and local policy-makers the opportunity to discuss current initiatives and research projects that evaluate the impact of mobile money in rural areas and micro-enterprise development in the greater Maputo area. Please find more information on the speakers and program of the conference here.
Final experimental results of the project are available in the final working paper. For a non-technical description see the VoxDev article.
Contributing to SDGs: