Tears roll down Vahonie’s cheeks as she takes in the sight of her three little ones sprawled on their lone possession – a straw mattress. The house lays barren because Vahonie had to sell everything to buy food and water. She can’t remember the last time family had a proper meal.
In one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, thousands of households in Madagascar are struggling to avoid starvation. Where 90% of the population lives on less than two Dollars a day, the country’s worst drought in 35 years has left the populace crippled. 
Madagascar is at nature’s mercy – numerous droughts, earthquakes and floods are proof that Mother Nature is in no mood for mercy. According to UN, the African island is the biggest victim of climate change. 850,000 people are at the critical-level ‘Phase 3’ food insecurity. Another 330,000 are at emergency-level ‘Phase 4’ food shortages – on the brink of starvation. Countless children like Vahonie’s go to sleep with parched throats and rumbling stomachs. Almost all children are malnourished, nearly half of them stunted. 
This is a scenario almost unheard of in countries that have made advancement in science and technology.  
Our carbon footprint is the reason behind Madagascar’s erratic and infrequent rain and the subsequent drought and famine. Our carbon footprint is the reason why Vahonie can’t feed her hungry children.
However, the technology that we use to make our lives more comfortable can be used to reduce Madagascar’s suffering. In an area as underdeveloped as Madagascar, providing aid is not easy. Distributing relief through cash is burdensome, thanks to the road conditions and corruption. That’s where mobile money comes to the rescue. Money can be directly transferred to the users’ accounts, allowing them to buy daily rations. 
Airtel Money has helped over 70,000 people in Madagascar’s South Antanimora receive financial support. More than $3 Mn were dispersed to those who needed it the most, ensuring their survival through these trying times! 
The dynamic potential of mobile money turned out to be their sacred blessing.

AsiaHawala, Iraq: AsiaHawala, Person to person transfer

Wasim’s life was stuck in a running wheel of woe and horror. The past had bled and the future had faded already. Amid the dropping bombs, his family took refuge in a camp. Iraq hasn’t been a safe haven for its innocent poor civilians lately. 
After 30 years of wars, sanctions, and devastations, Iraq remains a fragile state suffering from financial crisis. Wasim is not the only victim. The never-ending violence, dearth of resources and inappropriate infrastructure has left many in the middle of nowhere. With their own homes being the battlegrounds, there was no way they could save themselves a pie of hope to rely their future on. There was no food, just like there was no home and no money. Like most people in the country, Wasim had relied on farming and livestock breeding to earn living all his life; saving up for future never occurred to him. It was only after AsiaHawala came into the picture, that Wasim could paint his family’s future a bit brighter than his past. 
AsiaHawala, Iraq’s first mobile money service, facilitates unbanked Iraqis with remote payments using mobile phones. Leveraging the near ubiquitous penetration of the mobile phones in the region, AsiaHawala has provided ordinary citizens like Wasim a ray of hope. It not only frees them from insecurity but also strengthens the economic background of the country. The scheme has massively transformed the financial landscape in Iraq by empowering the citizens.

With eyes full of pride, Santiago tells his friends that he is the first person in their group to have his own Savings Account. In Colombia, the fourth largest economy of Latin America, 61% of the population is unbanked, and having a bank account is no small feat. 
Santiago still remembers his father’s struggles to obtain a loan for a new house. His father never had a bank account, leaving the banking authorities hesitant to provide a loan. His father’s dream to build their house was still incomplete.
Millions of people in Colombia suffer from the same problem – Lack of financial services. Be it financial support in the form of loans or having a proper savings account, traditional banking institutes fall woefully short. Now Santiago has taken upon himself to fulfil his father’s dream. 
In a country where the number of cellphones is greater than the number of bank accounts, mobile money offers huge untapped potential. It gives people like Santiago the ability to save money in formal channels, pay bills and even receive salary payments.

Kudakwashe spent most of his life on the road, fixing and polishing the shoes of others. His profession never gave him the liberty of choice. He would begin his day estimating the number of pairs he’d need to fix so he could afford supper.
He still remembers the day he got robbed on his way home. With a bruised jaw, he let go of the money to save his life. He had saved the money for his mother. Stained with mud and blood, he reached home empty-handed. To make up for the loss, he worked nights for a whole month.
Weeks later, when the launch of EcoCash Save started making rounds in the town Kudakwashe did not waste any time in opening an account.  Who knew technology would come so far that Kudakwashe and 6 million other Zimbabweans would be saving money by simply tapping a phone screen.
EcoCash Save not only brings the unbanked into the financial services fold, but also ensures that banking becomes a service for the masses and not a luxury for the urban. Kudakwashe no longer has to travel for hours to reach the nearest branch or ride back home with his heart pumping out of his chest in fear of being attacked again. He also earns an interest, so he can finally save money for his mother. 
If only Mobile Money had become a reality earlier.

Bongani heaved an exasperated sigh. Yet another irate customer had walked out of his shop, holding two condoms and one bottle opener instead of change. If only he could explain to his customers that he was as tired as them of this unavailability of change! 
Bongani had been running his grocery store for the past 30 years, but the shortchange problem started only in 2009 when inflation skyrocketed. He remembers the time when a Trillion Dollar note would get you just a small candy bar. Inflation had risen to 79,600,000,000% in 2009, causing the abandonment of the Zimbabwean dollar. 
There was a running joke popular among the local people about how they were all starving billionaires. You may say anything about their situation, but the people of Zimbabwe were a sporting lot.
The country then adopted the US Dollar, but only imported the currency in notes, making spare change not so spare after all. As a result, people had to end up buying other stuff which, in almost all cases, they didn’t really need. 
In a country whose majority lives on less than two US Dollars a day, Bongani and millions of other Zimbabweans feel that the EcoCash Debit Card is nothing short of a boon. The card links to customers’ EcoCash account, enabling them to withdraw money from MasterCard-licensed ATMs and tender exact payments at millions of merchants like Bongani, who accept payment cards.

Habimana’s constantly decreasing health had his wife worried for a long time. The WHO free medical camp was the poor couple’s only hope. With trepidation visible in each step, Habimana left for the camp. As he neared the counter, his heart started sinking lower and lower. After twenty dreadful minutes of constant tests, he heard the most devastating news of his life. Habimana was HIV positive. 
 Habimana was stunned for a moment until someone nudged him from behind and asked him to hurry up.  The doctor suggested him to move to the Information counter for further details, where he was asked to produce his ID and 50 Rwandan Francs as the fee. 
The fee wasn’t his worry. It was the ID. Living away from civilization, getting himself an ID had never caught his attention, until now. Habinama headed home with a heavy heart. 
Thankfully, his wife had remembered to register on Irembo– an e-government platform by Airtel Money Rwanda. With Irembo, all Rwandans need is an Airtel money account to pay for the government service they seek. The scheme is a major advantage for unbanked people like Habimana and his family. 
Thanks to his wife’s prudence, Habimana could immediately pay and apply for a new ID, which arrived soon and allowed his free medical care to start.
True to its name, Irembo did feel like a knock on the door of happiness.

Adil had a handful of dreams. One of them was to buy a flashy red Ferrari when he was all grown up. He had chanced upon one in the newspapers he was selling as a kid. Every morning before pedalling off on his bicycle, he flipped through the day’s newspapers looking for the same car. Disappointed, Adil realized he’d have to wait to be all grown up – then he could buy his own.
 Adil spent a good five years collecting money from every newspaper buyer. The monthly bills go to his father directly and the loose change to Adil’s precious little piggy bank  labelled ‘Faerari.’ His father happily humours Adils’ fantasy. Buying a Ferrari would take him 44 and a half years at this pace.
Adil doesn’t know that yet. Besides the only window in his room, rest 4 oddly sized ‘Faerari’ piggy banks.
When his father heard about Airtel Money Tap Tap from one of the vendors in his community, he thought of opening an Airtel Money account for his dear son. Ferrari may continue being Adil’s dream, but a healthy financial sustenance can be his reality. 
Ever since, unaware of his father’s true intention, Adil has been collecting money in the account directly. He doesn’t end up losing out on any money because his customers can now simply tap and pay the exact amount in the fraction of a second. Adil’s father isn’t the only one who thanks mobile money for this – Tap Tap is now accepted by over 3,800 merchants and used by over 50,000 Airtel Money users in Tanzania. The scheme also marks itself as the first closed-loop mobile money NFC payment service in Africa. Digitization of micro-payments and bringing them into the formal economy is just a tap away with this scheme. 
The opportunities with mobile money are as endless as Adil’s big dreams. 

Fabrice looked at his little girl as she slept uncomfortably on the freezing floor. After his wife’s passing, a loving embrace from his little girl was the only source of happiness in Fabrice’s life.      
Watching the little girl asleep, he heaved a sigh of pain. Two months had passed since the department had rolled out his monthly wages. A meal a day and at times just a glass of milk was all that was keeping them alive for the past week. Out of money and out of luck, every morning seemed like a curse to Fabrice. 
The only hope had been his wife’s share of money in the village savings group, but that money was gone too. Before her death, his wife made sure that money coming from the pool covered their meals. Since her death, Fabrice had been running short of luck. The villagers, aware of his helplessness, treated him dishonestly. And, all his savings were exhausted during his wife’s funeral. A tear rolled down his cheek at these thoughts, he closed his eyes and prayed for his salary. Fabrice was a broken man. 
Then, one day, Fabrice’s prayers were finally answered, with the government and the Central Bank’s push for digitization making people’s life easier. One such initiative, Salary Payments for Civil Servants – launched by Airtel Money, was nothing short of a blessing. Government employees like Fabrice get their salary debited directly into the mobile money account. 
A whole generation of Congo’s unbanked now have access to financial services for the first time, without having to rely on multiple informal mechanisms, ranging from savings club to money lenders to risky savings group. 
Today, Fabrice doesn’t have to worry about where the next meal is coming from, or taking care of his little girl. Mobile money has the potential to make payments safe, secure, and convenient for the people of Congo.

Kabo’s dreams were always laden with worries and dusted hopes. His wife’s forehead bears the wrinkles of the rustic reality - the few things that they possessed. Along with their seven-year-old child, incessant rains and the sun’s merciless rays, they live in a small shack. Getting their kids through school has been the wife’s dream and owning a house, has been Kabo’s. Tomorrow, it’s finally coming true!
Buying a house is not in every Batswana’s kismet. 
The board lists only 250 plots. As time passes, the queue grows. Kabo’s heart pounds faster and faster. Another hour passes before the fence gets torn down. A stampede breaks out. Kabo gets a hit on the head. As he is lying on the ground he senses that someone is trying to snatch away money from his hand. Moments later, Kabo’s hands feel as empty as his dreadful tomorrow. Who knew that the collision of a thousand dreams could look like this?
Kabo’s fate is like a million others’ in Botswana. The duality of the country reflects in Kabo’s unfortunate day – a morning full of hopes, an afternoon full of tears and blood, and a night sleeping in misery. The country calls for is a viable medium to address key challenges – the absence of affordable services, lack of sufficient income, and low literacy. 
One such medium is Mobile Money. 
When Mobile Money made its debut in Botswana through Orange Money’s partnership with Tati Land Board, it gave hope to Botswanians. Kabo can now pay the lease from his home. The lease fee payment service offers the people of Botswana much needed benefits – convenience, simplicity, and most importantly, security. The government now easily collects revenues from the lease in time and enables the people to plan their budget more efficiently and serve the citizens better.

It is just a typical day under the harsh Tanzanian Sun for farmers Ali, Amon, and Matis who have been standing in the longest queue ever. They were told that this waiting is going to be the final one for them. Enough life spent in queues – from queues to get seeds for their fields to queues for quarterly wages. And then there were times when there were no queues – When the crop had failed and there was no money to be earned for most Tanzanian farmers.
Today, the queues are as long. The Sun is as piercing. However, instead of frowns, there is a hope on every face. Unlike last year, and the year before, when one bad year of drought was enough to snuff out the dreams of farmers like Ali, Amon and Matis, this year they could still dream of better times thanks to Linda Mbegu.                               
Linda Mbegu, meaning protect your crop, was a dream come true for 80% of Tanzanians who had been feeding their families through farming. Every packet of seeds purchased with the service comes with a card and a number. The number ensures the crops’ future. 
The scheme also ensures that in the event of rainfall failure, the farmer gets the equivalent of the number of bags of seed they purchase replaced at the local agro-dealer, enabling the smallholder farmers to replant in the next planting season. In case of crop failure, refunds are paid through Airtel money.
A collaboration between Airtel Tanzania, Seed Co Tanzania, Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd (Acre), Africa and UAP Insurance Tanzania, Linda Mbegu is the first ever crop insurance scheme in Tanzania. Mobile Money has showered new hopes for many farmers, and the rains don’t seem like a curse anymore.

Pamela remembers the day she bade him goodbye. Two years have passed since her now grown-up son has gone to the city. The feeling of loneliness makes her heart sink for the first time in 25 years. 
Her age doesn’t allow her to work in the fields anymore. Two meals a day don’t come too easy either. She’s impatient to receive the little money her son manages to send through informal channels. Many miles away, in another country, Pamela’s son worries incessantly. If only he could send her money regularly, he would be ensured of her well-being.    
It is early in the morning. Pamela hears someone knocking at her door. She is anxious. She never had a visitor in years! She opens the door and receives a parcel. Fidgeting at first, she finally chooses to unwrap it. A phone was the last thing she could’ve guessed. Along with it is a letter from her son. Pamela will probably never have to stand in the queues again. 
The partnership between EcoCash and multiple Transfer Operators (MTO’s) has allowed the Zimbabwean Diaspora to remit money to their family, putting this woeful tale of suffering to an end. 
The scheme enables Zimbabweans across 200 countries to send money directly to EcoCash customers in the Diaspora. Poor households can receive vital maintenance money from relatives within minutes. 
With mobile technology, the likes of  Pamela can now measure their life in smiles, instead of tears.

Mamadao had just received his first salary – 100 Dollars. He excitedly called up her Mummy and told her about it. Her kind voice was a refreshing change from the crude bustle of Brazzaville – Congo’s capital city. She was overjoyed yet concerned, like any mother, and asked him not to spend the money on useless shenanigans.
Shenanigans were the furthest thing from Mamadao’s mind. He wanted to gift his Mummy something and show his gratitude for the love and support she had given him. He remembered how, while they were buying essentials for the city, his mother had shown interest in a top. After seeing the price tag, she decided to forego it. That was two months ago. 
Now, he could get his Mummy anything she wanted. Mamadao had the contact details of the shopkeeper. He was overjoyed to hear the top was still available. Mamadao arranged for the top to be delivered to Mummy. There was a challenge though, the shopkeeper explained – He only accepted payments in Congolese Francs, while Mamadao’s salary was in dollars. 
A few years ago, Mamadao would have been caught in a conundrum: First, transferring the money to the shopkeeper would have been a challenge. Second, he would have had to physically go and get the currency converted. 
Now, thanks to Orange’s dual currency mobile wallet, thousands of Congolese like Mamadao can make payments in both currencies. In a country that is largely unbanked, mobile money has finally provided Congo’s population access to banking services.

Tension permeates the air at the Border Church Clinic in Zimbabwe’s Marondera District. Tanaka has just delivered her first child – a healthy baby boy – but she has lost a lot of blood in the process. Tanaka’s husband’s heavy footsteps can be heard echoing in the hall.  He should be overjoyed at becoming a father, but the possibility of losing his wife is too heavy a price for him.
This would have been a trickier situation if Tanaka hadn’t insisted on participating in Mbereko Women’s Groups’ Ecocash Savings club. Never again, he told himself, would he doubt his wife’s decisions. He just prayed that she pulled through this.
Four hours later, Tanaka comes out of danger. She opens her eyes to the sight of her husband, hovering over her, and cradling their son. The baby boy stretches a hand towards her. A look at her husband’s face is all it takes for Tanaka to realize how close she had been. 
He places the baby in her arms, and for the first time, she looks at her baby’s face. The brown eyes take after hers’. So does the nose. He gurgles happily as she hugs him closer. Tanaka’s husband breathes a sigh and tells her how helpful their Ecocash Savings turned out to be. She replies with four words, “I told you so.”
Millions of people like Tanaka – women, entrepreneurs, street vendors and businessmen use Ecocash Savings Club as a formal channel of group savings and pooling together their funds. In fact, 60% of its customer base is women, proving how mobile money can be an effective tool for women empowerment – even for the unbanked and underserved sections of society.

Hassan had just started the four-hour long bus journey to meet his true love – Isabella. It had been three weeks since they last met and Hassan was planning to surprise her on her birthday. He was looking forward to seeing her reaction. 
They had been together for the last ten years, after their neighbourhood acquaintance blossomed into inseparable companionship. They used to live on the same street in Maradi, Niger. They even went to the same school. Their childhood was full of fond memories, apart from one  – the dark memory of their separation, six years ago.
His father had been transferred to Zinder. It had been the saddest days of his life. He could still feel her embrace and the whispered promise that this wasn’t over. Daily phone calls and texts kept the romance alive. They made sure to be present on important days like birthdays and graduations.  
But, bus travel wasn’t easy or even safe. There were the long bus queues. Unavailability of tickets had also been a concern till a few months ago. Highway banditry didn’t help matters, leaving Isabella further worried about Hassan’s safety.        
Isabella’s joy knew no bounds when a leading bus operator announced a partnership with Airtel Money allowing passengers to buy tickets with mobile money. Thanks to Airtel’s mobile money service, they could manage to skip queues and book bust tickets with much convenience.
In a country that lacks traditional banking services, mobile money’s versatility is bringing a new level of financial convenience to people like Hassan and Isabella. 

David was tired of his wife’s bickering. She had constantly nagged him since a week to renew the TV subscription. Last night, he had thrown the cushion at the television in anger. He had to spend the night on the couch for that. His back still hurt.
As he stretched his sore back on his desk at work, he remembered that their TV subscription would run out tonight. He decided to renew it before leaving for home. If he didn’t, he might as well not go home at all. It’s not that he was afraid of his wife... 
Well, who was he kidding? He was terrified of her. But, he loved her all the same. 
He never understood her love for television. Not that he didn’t enjoy watching. It was his source of news and football. However, he didn’t like the stupid soap operas his wife was so fond of.  No wonder he wasn’t queuing to renew the TV subscription as often as the wife wanted. If only it was easier to pay, he would be free of his wife’s constant badgering. 
Airtel Money’s tie up with TV service Canal+ was exactly what David needed. He simply unlocks his mobile phone and pays for the Canal+ service through his mobile money account. Annually, 140,000 Gabonese pay for their Canal+ subscriptions using Airtel Money.
As he takes the flight of stairs up to his apartment, he is sceptical of the response that awaits him at home. Tentatively, he knocks on the door of his home. His wife opens it with a beaming smile on her face. She ushers him in and guides him straight to the candle lit dinner in laying on the table, strategically arranged so they can have a view of the TV. She seems to have forgotten about the fight last night. He will forget too. 
As a husband, David learned to pick his battles long ago. He settles for a hug. Wine, a happy wife and the idiot box - What more could a man need?

Kebe heaves a sigh of relief as she finishes setting the table. She calls out to the family. As her boys run in, she smiles. It was a good day. Her husband hugs her before sitting across her. They all say Grace and settle down for dinner. 
A few months ago, dinner wasn’t so simple. Kebe would have to walk miles to collect enough firewood for making dinner. She would get home with her feet cracked and bleeding from all the walking. Even then, her struggle to make dinner was far from over. 
Kebe would light the firewood in her tiny kitchen and be swathed in black smoke. It would make her eyes burn and throat sting. At times when she was unable to breathe, she’d rush out to gulp fresh air. But, dinner was her responsibility. It had to be made, no matter the cost. Kebe knew several women in the settlement who had started coughing blood. Some had eventually died.
They called it the Homemaker’s Bane.
 The toxic black swirling smoke claims the life of 98,000 Nigerian women every year. Cooking 3 meals a day is equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes a day, yet millions of women like Kebe brave the smoke to fulfil their responsibility as the woman of the house. 
Today, things are finally changing for the better. Thanks to the partnership between Orange and gas distribution company Gani Gas, low-income Nigerian households can buy gas cylinders on instalments with their Orange mobile wallets. Millions of women like Kebe no longer have to risk exposure to heat and smoke to feed their families.

Groans of pain precede the old man’s steps. Chapepa’s joints ache with arthritis as he makes his way to his relatives. This isn’t a social call. It’s a cry for help – His family is out of food and the only way to survive is seeking help from his relatives. Chapepa doesn’t know what hurts more – his withered old legs or his bruised ego. He reminds himself that his ego won’t feed his hungry grandchildren. His relatives might. 
The situation is equally dire for 7 million other Malawians. The Southern part of Africa has been ravaged by droughts and famines. Farmers like Chapepa cut a sad, lonely figure as they stand in their parched fields. They look at their withered crops and wish they could quench the thirst of the barren land. The helplessness in their eyes says what they won’t – they need help.
The administration has declared a state of national emergency. International aid agencies have mustered whatever they can, though it’s still woefully short of what is required to fill the empty, hungry stomachs of Malawi.
Raising funds isn’t the only problem. In this part of the world, how aid is transported to the needy is an equally big headache. Roads are simply dirt tracks, making it extremely difficult for trucks to manoeuvre. A suitable alternative is the use of mobile money to disburse funds.
More than $54.2 Mn was distributed to 250,000 Malawians through Airtel Money, enabling people like Chapepa to buy food for their families. In a country plagued by such macro-level problems, mobile money has served to be a blessing, allowing aid to trickle down to the micro-level.

James has been saving his pocket money to buy a football of the club he supports – Yanga. He’s still 2000 Tanzanian Shillings short. The only other person who owns a football in his village supports the rival club – Simba. Most of James’ friends also support Yanga, but to play football they are resigned to playing with a Simba ball. 
James’ elder brother works in Dodoma – a four-hour bus ride away from their village. When he had just started working, he used to come home every month to help the family out with a portion of his earnings. But that changed a few months ago, when interoperability of mobile money became a reality. Now, he simply transfers the money directly into his parents mobile money account. 
James decides to call him up after the game today – Maybe his brother could help him buy the football.
A cool breeze ruffles his hair as he makes his way across the barren football field to meet his friends. Play kicks off.
Today feels like it’s going to be James’ day. He’s getting in the right positions, anticipating the ball’s movements. He gets away once, but the brat who owns the Simba ball catches hold of his shirt and pulls him down. James curses out loud but lets the game go on – Grownups don’t stop the game for minor scuffles.
Ten minutes later, he breaks free again. This time there’s no catching him – cutting through opposition players like Lionel Messi and guiding the ball with deft touches like Cristiano Ronaldo. He feints left and slots the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal. 
They win 2-0. He hurries home to call and tell his elder brother how he just played the best two hours of football in his life. At the end of the call, he remembers to inform his brother of the financial crisis he’s facing. 
On the other side of the call, his brother smiles coyly – Happy to hear the joy in James’ voice, and, proud that he can afford to financially support the family. He immediately transfers the remaining 2000 TZS into James’ mobile money account. 
This wouldn’t have been possible till a few years ago. James brother uses an Airtel Money account in Dodoma. In James’ village, the Tigo Pesa wallet is more widely used. Thanks to interoperability of mobile wallets, it makes no difference to James and thousands of other mobile money users who transfer over $16 Mn every month across wallets. 
Mobile money has blessed the Tanzanian populace with the ability to transfer money anywhere, anytime and to any mobile money account.

Emmanuel gently caressed the smooth blemishes of the ring in his hand, tracing the inscription in it with his fingertips. The inscription was the Swahili word for Forever – ‘Milele’.
Emmanuel and Leya had been together for three years before he finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry him. Emmanuel fondly recalled the day when they had first met…
She was dressed in her Sunday best - a mesmerizing white gown. She looked radiant, at least till the point her foot slipped and she ended up sprawled eagled in a puddle. All onlookers cracked up. As did Emmanuel, before he decided to help her get up. Then he had looked straight into her eyes and told her he’d be there forever if she needed help. That’s how ‘Milele’ became their word.
As she walked down the aisle with her father, the light from the church’s stained glass shined on her. She looked radiant. They said their “I dos’’ before he showed her the ‘Milele’ on the wedding band. Then, he pushed it down her ring finger. 
Airtel Money’s micro-loan service – Airtel Timiza provided a small-term loan to make Emmanuel’s wedding possible. Whether it’s an emergency, expanding business, or any other need, the service helps unbanked customers through short-term hassle-free loans. 
The boon of Mobile Money allows 2 Mn customers like Emmanuel to avail emergency and daily financial support, without having to submit a single document. 

It’s a sunny Monday morning in Berbice, Guyana. For Nezam and his friends, it’s just another day to waste time chilling under the tree next to his house. His wife shouts his name from the inside. As Nezam nervously rushes back, his friends crack up. They remember how Nezam got beaten up by his wife last summer. After all, he chose to drink away all the money his wife had saved for their yearly tax. Worse, his wife was completely unaware of his misdeed. 
On the day Nezam was supposed to have made the payment, his wife awaited his return from the tax office. Just a few hours before, she had discovered an envelope hidden in his cabinet. Nearly jumping out of her skin, she opened a warning letter signed by the income tax authorities. The money was all gone. The deadline was the week after. The sounds of her shouting seemed to have reached even the end of the street.
This generation of Guyanese had seen a lot of societal transformation over the past few years. It was only after the collaboration of Guyana Revenue Authority and Mobile Money Guyana, that Guyana’s sun shone brighter than ever. Mobile Money had brought so much to the people living even in the remotest areas of Guyana. Nezam’s wife now manages to keep a track of every payment through her phone.
A thousand other taxpayers are assured that their payments will be cleared, processed and credited to the GRA’s bank account in time. It not only quickens up the process, but also guards them from the frequent fraud they used to battle. With the implementation of a National Payment System in 2017, the government expects to save as much as $266 million annually in the near future. Guyana is now moving away from the chaotic cash-based mechanism and is a step closer to efficient development.

On regular days, Fatimah wakes up at 7, rises out of her bed, draws the curtains apart and drinks the sunshine with her eyes closed. Today was different. It was 4:30 AM, she had to pack her bags and rush to visit her sick mother in Dhaka. Fatimah heaved a sigh – of anxiety and panic. Railway stations aren’t pleasant at this hour of the day, especially when you want to make it home before it’s too late. 
By the time she reached the ticket counter, it was 9:45 AM. Clutching the ticket in her shivering hand, she entered the train. By the time she found her seat, her phone vibrated with an incoming call. She noticed the phone screen displaying 10 AM before she picked up the call. A stranger screamed on the other side of the phone. Before she could reply, the train blew the longest ever horn, screeching its way through the iron tracks. She put the call on hold for a minute. The horn stopped blowing. Her heart sank deeper. As she heard the stranger’s voice again, she broke into tears. Her mother was passed.
In a country as populous as Bangladesh, problems arise at every turn in daily lives. From unemployment to train ticketing, the country hollers for immediate transformation. Grameenphone, along with other leading telecom operators in the region partnered with Bangladesh Railway to combat the challenges people face. Booking a train ticket for regular railway passengers now became easier.
The average time to purchase a ticket has now reduced by 75%! The average cost of obtaining a train ticket has now reduced by 84%!
Convenience, transparency, reliability, and security are now just some of the blessings Bangladeshis thank Mobile Money for.  

When Nazir opens his eyes to the sunshine in the morning, he doesn’t find a window with a view, a comfortable bed under him, or even a ceiling fan above his head. What he does find, is that his back still aches because of sleeping on the cold floor, and his head hurts because he slept on an empty stomach last night. Struggling with the downpour of sunlight on his face through the missing glass of the window, his left hand reaches out to a stained, half-broken bottle with a few drops of water, which he eventually decides to spare for his kids. He rises out of his bed to brace himself for yet another day in the shoe-making sweatshop where he works. Nazir is just like millions of other Bangladeshis who live amid an enormous dearth of money and basic needs. 
150 million people. Forty-six million five hundred thousand of which, live on a meagre amount of US$2 per day. Shoes and shrimps aren’t the only things Bangladesh is known for. It is also the eighth most populous country in the world, which leaves Bangladeshis in the colossal dearth of economic transformation. To address this alarming rate of poverty, the government has chalked out the Vision 2021 roadmap. This aims to make information and communication technology the messiah of change, with the creation of Digital Bangladesh. 
To this end, mobile operators have invested heavily to bring in 3G services to at least 90% of the population. Enhancing access to financial services, mobile money has sparked the much-needed fire of transformation in Bangladesh. Jiban Bima Corporation’s partnership with Banglalink has allowed more than 400,000 insurance policy holders to pay life insurance premiums through Mobile Cash. A bank of loyal customers, maximized transparency and insurance were just some of the gratifications received in turn. 
The gamut of mobile money services expands beyond transactions in Bangladesh with this scheme – it’s a small, yet a sure step towards fueling a cashless digital economy!

Mustafah’s eldest son was taken away when war broke out in 2005. His youngest one was taken away yesterday - when hunger broke him down. Malnourishment never came across as fatal to Mustafah. It was their state of life. 
His family’s fate always depended entirely on the coffee farms where Mustafah works. Mustafah was anticipating the day he would take his son to witness the awe in his eyes at the sight of those beautiful coffee fields. 
90% of Burundi’s population is dependent on coffee cultivation. This holds no semblance to the world of coffee that we’re familiar with - A Costa next to Starbucks, engulfed in the absolute aroma of coffee. What evokes romance for coffee in our hearts, evokes tears in their eyes. They don’t grow Arabica because of its abundant availability there, they do it because it is the only crop that fetches money. Coffee accounts for nearly 80% of Burundi’s exports but the prices had slipped to their lowest since 2009. Profit margins had remained constantly thin and discouraging – sucking the tears and blood of the farmers, day after day. Two-thirds of the country’s population lingers below the poverty line. 60% of the population is chronically malnourished.
Since mobile money’s debut in 2005, Burundi’s 800,000 households have their hopes pinned on technology. It isn’t a central part of their economy yet, but unbanked customers are increasingly gaining access to financial services, digital channels, payment aggregators and agent network managers. With Econet Wireless’ partnership with African Fine Coffee Association, farmers no longer have to wait in queues to get paid or be victims again. What it also does, is educate them on the latest developments in their field, which eventually leads to efficient production. With more and more m-agriculture practices, Burundi’s all-inclusive and efficient digital finance ecosystem aims to ignite much-needed economic transformation in the country. 
A month-on-month double-digit growth seems to be the right start to Burundi’s new fate.

She had collapsed after a severe pain in her chest, and, pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Doctors diagnosed it a heart attack but Qatsa knew better. It was a broken heart that had gotten his mother. 
Her husband, Qatsa’s father, had expired just 3 months ago. After his father’s death, his mother was never the same. As he wept his heart out, he remembers a part of him thinking the two would be together again. Once the tears dried up, the practical part of him tried figuring how he’d pay his last respects to the woman he admired the most. 
Qatsa’s thoughts swirled back to his father’s funeral – the perfect goodbye for a man of his stature. But, he kept wondering how would he provide his beloved mother with the same respectful burial. His father had left behind just about enough money to provide for his burial. He had made sure he would give his mother the one thing he could – A decent burial.
Ten years later, as he sat paying insurance premium through EcoCash on his mobile, he looked at his wife and kids and smiled, knowing none of them would ever have to face the kind of crisis he did.
EcoCash has provided funeral insurance to innumerable Lesotho households like Qatsa’s. In Lesotho, where love for the living translates into respect for the dead in the form of a decent burial, mobile money turned out to be a boon for the masses.

Like a lioness cradling her cub, Sultan’s mother tightens her embrace around her four-year-old. Worry lines crease her forehead, as she thinks about his future. She has already lost one son due to financial instability, she doesn’t want her Sultan to suffer the same fate.     
Sultan’s mother still remembers the look on her firstborn’s face when she told him that they had no savings to support his dream. All Sultan’s elder brother wanted was money to start a new business. Money – something, the family didn’t have. 
Whatever little money the family had they saved up got washed away in the last flood. Enraged, their son had walked out on them.
Sultan’s father is a daily wage earner. The bare little that he manages to save at the end of each workday, he earmarks for Sultan’s future. He is unbanked, just like the majority of the Kyrgyz populace, and formal channels of saving money are limited.
In such a morbid situation, Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank came up with ELSOM - a unique mobile wallet that allows users to not only transfer money but also earn interest on money saved. Now, thousands of families like Sultan’s don’t need to worry about losing their savings anymore. With a balance as low as $3, users can open an account and start earning a bonus of 10% per annum!
Thanks to ELSOM, over 340,000 users now have a savings account! Mobile money has provided citizens of Kyrgyzstan access to formal savings and banking services.       

Mariam had spent nine months to hear the shrill cries of her new baby. Instead, she lay distraught – her anguished cries filling the air with doom. Mariam’s baby was still-born. For Mariam, and tens of thousands of women like her in Mali, motherhood is like winning a lottery. With a death rate of 100 in 1,000 births, Mali has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.
It’s a shame that, in the age of talking robots, we are still unable to remedy issues of basic healthcare.  For women in Mali, the situation comes down to the lack of prenatal care. This is further compounded with most households lacking a secured bank balance, or insurance, leaving them unable to afford such services during emergencies. An insurance product was the need of the hour.
Orange Money partnered with insurer NSIA and NGO Population Service International, to come up with a linked savings and insurance product. This enabled users to automatically enrol for 12-month life and maternal health insurance as soon as their savings balance reached a certain amount. Since mothers not attending prenatal consultation were entitled to only 75% of the benefit, the initiative also encouraged soon-to-be-mothers like Mariam to seek prenatal care.
Not only has this helped curb Mali’s alarming infant mortality rate, it has also empowered Malian women to become financially stable. 97% of female users were insured for the first time ever! 55% more women have now started saving. 
Just one of the many instances of how mobile money unleashes the idea of a better tomorrow.