Over the last week we’ve been lucky enough to uncover some fantasic infographics that help make sense of the data emerging about the growth of mobile money across SSA, the increase in internet connectivity, and the rise in ownership of smartphones. As we see all three of these areas as core in driving the expansion and improvement of financial services across the region, we wanted to share them with you all.

The first infographic comes from Afrographic who produce brilliant graphics showing developments in Africa. It looks at the percentage of mobile phone users in selected African countries who used mobile money on a regular basis. While we all know about the success of M-PESA in Kenya, and MTN in Uganda, it is really interesting to see growing success in West Africa, in particular Senegal.

The next comes from our friends at Kopo Kopo (who incidentally are doing some very exciting things helping MNOs to manage their merchant networks). This one looks at the increase in smartphone ownership in Africa since 2010. Now, 67% of all devices sold in Kenya are smartphones! As the cost of mobile internet continues to decrease, and the numbers of smartphones rises, we expect see more and more client facing apps, placing information and control directly into the hands of the individual (Musoni Services will launch its app in Q1 next year which will enable customers to carry out things like balance enquiries, account transfers and loan applications on their phones – and this is just the start). 

Our final infographic comes from Eric Hersman’s White African blog, which is definitely worth checking out for frequent updates on the East African technology space. This summarises a ton of data from the GSMA Entrepreneurship Kenya report, in particular looking at the reducing cost and increasing outreach of internet connectivity.

We think that all three of these showcase the exciting developments that will together accelerate the drive for financial inclusion across the continent! I hope you find them useful.