Mobile Money Rains on Solwezi

By Derrick Silimina

According to the Bank of Zambia, the number of mobile money users on the country’s network platforms grew from 4.85 million in 2019 to 8.6 million plus in 2020. That represents a year-on-year increase of 77 percent.

At the same time, and not coincidentally, more and more people in Solwezi District of North-Western Province are gaining access to financial services in general, whether provided by a mobile money booth, online platform or a physical bank. 

In Solwezi’s Kandemba area, Agness Kaumba owns a mobile money booth which provides financial services that include the receiving and sending of money, buying electricity units, paying bills like GOTV, DSTV and selling talk time.

“I started my business in December 2021 after I invested a minimal amount of K1000 where sending and withdrawing services were being provided via MTN only,” Kaumba said. 

She described the business as ‘very good’ because it is not labour intensive but requires good interaction customers.

 Kaumba stated that her business is now worth K5000, all in a period of five months. After realizing the need to sharpen her business acumen, Kaumba started attending the Kansanshi Mining Plc-sponsored business development training in October, 2021. 

“The training helped me to identify the business opportunity and a busy location where to target a lot of customers. Financial discipline is another virtue I learned and utilized in my business, hence my being able to grow my capital from K1000 to K5000 within a short period of five months,” she stated. 

With average sales of K100 per day, Kaumba is optimistic as the mobile money business is lucrative, especially during the first and second week of every month. 

Kaumba now intends to open three or four outlets, with one outlet planned for the town centre and another at the Kimiteto area starting January 2023. 

She also looks forward to diversifying into buying and selling timber as research indicates that the business is quite lucrative as well. 

“From my mobile money business, I have developed my plot in the Kimiteto area and bought another plot in Mulemba Villa Park worth K4,500,” she said. 

The visiting mentorship team from Fortune World Investment Limited urged Kaumba to improve her record-keeping habit if she is to track her income and expenditure done per day with ease.