The most striking thing about mobile money in Kenya is how visible it is: the proliferation of store signage with M-PESA (and, increasingly, other mobile money and banking logos) leaves no one with any doubt that something big is happening in the Kenyan payment space.
It is estimated that four out of five adult Kenyans have access to a mobile money account. This means that most people that any business touches –whether they are consumers, employees, business partners or retail staff— are connected to a real-time electronic payment network. That’s unprecedented in the developing world.
And yet few formal businesses have a dedicated mobile money account to conduct their financial transactions electronically, and among those who have one most do not appear to promote its use by their customers and suppliers particularly aggressively. Cheques remain the preferred payment mode for suppliers, or cash for smaller payments. M-PESA payments might be taken from customers if they insist and M-PESA might be used to pay field staff in exceptional or emergency situations, but then staff’s personal mobile phones are most likely to be used. Few enterprises have any vision about how they can use mobile money to re-engineer how they do operate, taking cash out of their business. The tidal wave of M-PESA is but a mere ripple for most businesses.
Imagine things are looking up for you. You are running your own business transporting and selling charcoal to retailers in the area, your husband has a steady job, and together you own real estate which you rent out. Then, your husband dies – your in-laws and your husband’s kinsmen take all of the assets and are entitled to do so under law. You are left with nothing to rebuild your life and provide for your child. This is what happened to Anna in Kenya. Her story is not uncommon. Women’s rights groups in Kenya have been pushing for change and finally, with the institution of a new Constitution in August of 2010, their rights will be protected. This Constitution, the main purpose of which was to limit the powers of the executive, has risen from the ashes of ethnic violence following elections in 2007 in which over 1,100 people are believed to have been killed.
In terms of broad legal principles relating to women’s rights, Kenya’s new Constitution has two reforms. The first, is that customary law, still recognized in Kenya alongside codified law and common law, is no longer exempt from constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination based on gender. As a result, discriminatory inheritance practices such as those that disinherited Anna will come under increased legal scrutiny. The second, is that in addition to gender being a prohibited ground for discrimination, protections were strengthened with a clause mandating equality based on gender, and a clause providing that parties to a marriage are entitled to equal rights at the time of marriage, during marriage and at the dissolution of marriage. In addition, Kenya has instituted specific provisions, so that Kenyan women can now pass citizenship to their spouses and children on equal footing with Kenyan men. The latter, a huge achievement as it empowers the other half of the population with the same right, is something many countries still continue to prohibit wives and mothers to do.
Mission to Côte d'Ivoire scheduled to take place between February 13 and 17. Time to prepare for my first trip with the Bank: call for tickets and hotel, visit the travel clinic, request UNLP and visa, read security recommendations, exchange money etc. Ah, of course, prepare all the background documents and coordinate the elaboration of our meeting schedule. Simple activities that tend to become uninteresting for those who have done it several times before are rather exciting for a beginner.
I landed in Cote d’Ivoire just in time for the big final of the Africa’s Nations Cup: Cote d’Ivoire, the favorites to win, facing the surprising Zambia. Everyone’s eyes were on the game and the scenario was set for a week of celebrations. Football (soccer), however, is tricky and Cote d’Ivoire ended as the runner up. That did not change the plans in the country: Monday the 13th had been declared a national holiday for the people to welcome the players and so it was. A slight unexpected issue for us, as most of our meetings scheduled for that day were cancelled. An anti-climax for a beginning.
Minneapolis has the largest Somali population in the US. Sending remittances to Somalia was put at risk late December when the Sunrise Community Bank in Minneapolis announced that it was going to close the accounts of all Somali remittance companies on December 30th 2011.To our knowledge, the Sunrise Community Bank was the last bank that was serving Somali remittance companies in Minneapolis. Closure of accounts meant no operation for remittance companies. This in turn meant no money for remittance-dependent Somalis, who had no other options since remittance service providers such as Western Union and MoneyGram didn’t operate in Somalia. Aid groups lobbied to challenge the closure, and their petition reached all the way up to President Obama.
Sierra Leone has become one of the most improved economies in the Doing Business 2012 report—an amazing step toward sustainable economic growth for a country that has overcome a devastating civil war less than ten years ago. The country is now ranked 141st on the ease of doing business—an improvement of 9 places from the previous year. This achievement was made possible to a large extent by the IFC-World Bank Removing Administrative Barriers to Investment (RABI) program.
1. Only 15 percent of Nigerian entrepreneurs are women --- one of the lowest shares in all Sub-Saharan Africa
2. Almost 70 percent of firms in Akwa Ibom train their employees while just one percent of firms in Zamfara do so. And workers that receive training earn up to a quarter more than non-trained workers.
3. Female entrepreneurs need credit more than men, but they are less likely to apply for and less likely to obtain a loan.
Editor's Note: The following post was submitted jointly by Pilar Sanchez-Bella and Brice Richard both members of the Doing Business Team.
The Doing Business in Juba 2011 report was launched last May 16 in Juba, Southern Sudan. The city profile, which covers 9 Doing Business indicators, is one of the first assessments of business regulations in Juba, the current capital of Southern Sudan. Why is this report noteworthy? First, it helps fill the micro-level data gap in the country by providing baseline data.
Editor's Note: Michael Joseph is the World Bank Group's first fellow and was previously the CEO of Safaricom.
Mobile money has gone viral. In Kenya there are now more than 15 million mobile money users, which is equivalent to three in four adults. The company I was heading until last November, Safaricom has developed the world’s largest mobile money platform M-Pesa, which is being used by more than 14 million Kenyans. Over the last three years the growth of mobile money has been exponential. In December we reached a new threshold when the equivalent of US$ 1 billion was transferred. This is more than Western Union has transferred in all of 2010 globally! This has changed the lives of Kenyans—it created new jobs, new businesses and new opportunities for millions of people.
Not long ago, I carried a 20-liter bottle of water three blocks to my apartment (there is an artesian well in a nearby park). At first it was easy. I lifted it up onto my shoulders and walked boldly along the street, drawing admiring looks from everyone I passed.
But it didn’t take long for my muscles to feel the burn. Then my back started to ache. By the time I got home, I was wiped out. Never again, I thought.
Editor’s Note: Michael Klein is the former Vice President of Financial and Private Sector Development of the World Bank Group and is currently Visiting Professor at Harvard and Johns Hopkins University.
Nairobi 2006. Making Finance Work for Africa is the topic. Bankers, officials of monetary authorities, regulators, representatives of the IMF and multilateral development banks crowded in the conference room of the Serena hotel to launch the new Making Finance Work for Africa report. When I arrived at the airport, it was hard not to notice the omnipresent Safaricom ads: “Roam with the largest herd”. Luckily, I had chosen to present at the conference on the potential for mobile money, branchless banking and the like. Just a few months later in March 2007 Safaricom launched its M-PESA service. Today—less than 4 years later—M-PESA helps some 60 per cent of all adult Kenyans with payment services and is all the rage in the world of microfinance, in Kenya and beyond.
M-PESA reaches all over Kenya. 23,000 shops, often within just a few meters from each other, proliferate in slums and villages. Changing money at these cash merchants is pretty much like buying any other product in a shop; consumers face no or few lines, take advantage of opening hours from early till late, and can find cash merchants close to places of business or residence. The benefits are numerous: life is easier and safer; money is harder to steal or lose; waiting at the bank is over. Mobile phones make it possible. The herd of roamers comprises most adults in Kenya. And they have voted with their feet and money: payment services are what they want from financial inclusion.
The most striking thing about mobile money in Kenya is how visible it is: the proliferation of store signage with 
two reforms. The first, is that customary law, still recognized in Kenya alongside codified law and common law, is no longer exempt from constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination based on gender. As a result, discriminatory inheritance practices such as those that disinherited Anna will come under increased legal scrutiny. The second, is that in addition to gender being a prohibited ground for discrimination, protections were strengthened with a clause mandating equality based on gender, and a clause providing that parties to a marriage are entitled to equal rights at the time of marriage, during marriage and at the dissolution of marriage. In addition, Kenya has instituted specific provisions, so that Kenyan women can now pass citizenship to their spouses and children on equal footing with Kenyan men. The latter, a huge achievement as it empowers the other half of the population with the same right, is something many countries still continue to prohibit wives and mothers to do. 
I landed in Cote d’Ivoire just in time for the big final of the Africa’s Nations Cup: Cote d’Ivoire, the favorites to win, facing the surprising Zambia. Everyone’s eyes were on the game and the scenario was set for a week of celebrations. Football (soccer), however, is tricky and Cote d’Ivoire ended as the runner up. That did not change the plans in the country: Monday the 13th had been declared a national holiday for the people to welcome the players and so it was. A slight unexpected issue for us, as most of our meetings scheduled for that day were cancelled. An anti-climax for a beginning.
Minneapolis has the largest Somali population in the US. Sending remittances to Somalia was put at risk late December when the Sunrise Community Bank in Minneapolis announced that it was going to 
