By Sylvester Oluoch
Human progress is such that every step in the right direction inspires more people to take the same course. Addis Ababa, which translates into “new flower’ has a new flower – Telebirr by Ethio Telecom. Telebirr, the new mobile banking platform in Ethiopia presents possibilities that are only matched by the imagination of Ethiopians and other players in Ethiopian markets.
Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr service offering is well positioned to ride a global wave that is now sweeping across the African continent. Information technology and mobile telephony that is by and by moving the world from the open agora and brick and motor outlets to App-based marketplace is a current that stands to sweep Addis Ababa into heights never seen before.
Telebirr will have a great ride. The research and development already done by Kenya’s Safaricom will massively feed into its plans. Borrowing from a neighbor that has been riding the mobile wallets for 15 progressive years presents opportunities in skills transfer and direct investments. Addis Ababa, bolstered by over 100 million Ethiopians can scale Telebirr tremendously.
The rapid upturn of Ethiopia’s economy is almost a foregone conclusion. Kenya’s Safaricom has created thousands of direct employments and hundreds of thousands in indirect employment. With a population more than twice that of Kenya, Ethiopia stands to create jobs that will create a visible middle class. Telebirr now sets Addis Ababa on a journey to the “stars.”
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Going by capabilities of mobile wallets, a population of 112 million, mobile usage penetration at around 50 million, and an uptake of mobile wallets at 2% (over 1 million) of registered mobile users in the first week, the new flower in Ethiopia will make Addis Ababa blossom anew. It is time for the entire Africa to look at Addis because opportunity beacons.
Population: Addis Ababa holds much of Ethiopia’s economy that runs the 112 million-strong populace. This market awaits solutions. With 52% of this population aged 15-54 years, and a life expectancy close to 70 years, Ethiopia is a country of great promise and Addis Ababa is not only a new flower, but a flower that is getting ready to bloom with Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr.
Safaricom Advantage: Pioneers in markets tend to struggle more than latter day entrants. Safaricom having paved most of the way by ironing kinks in the mobile wallet “superhighway” and smoothing the edges, Telebirr is certain to travel an already beaten path.
Opportunity for Skills Transfer: Ethio Telecom has the profit of having a neighbor that has been riding the storms of mobile money development for close to two decades. Skilled labor that is awash in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya has a place to look to for consultancy. Those who dare to dream can pith tent in Addis and make a difference.
Opportunity for Telebirr Outlets: with mobile wallets, comes the need for store fronts where users who do not have access to banks, or whose businesses are cash-based can do cash deposits and withdrawals. This line alone will profit millions of Ethiopians from all over the country.
With this mobile wallet initiative, Ethiopians are going to experience a dramatic change in the velocity of money. Economic growth is always more to do with the speed of money in the economy than the amount of money in circulation. Telebirr is going to increase the speed of money in Ethiopia substantially, which will result in dramatic economic growth.
Mises Wire of June 2019 in Money Velocity and Economic Growth, shades some light and simplifies how speed of transactions and velocity of money impact the economy. Telebirr Mobile Wallet will thus be part of Ethiopia’s 2021 history of economic growth – a new flower in the New Flower that Addis Ababa is.
