Mobile banking a godsend in Congo

FOR public servants working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the arrival of mobile banking has been just short of a miracle. Aside from getting paid on time, workers are now receiving what is actually owed to them, circumventing greedy superiors who used to dip into their pay envelopes to “tip” themselves.

“The first time, they’re surprised” to see what they actually make, said Sofibanque MD Hassan Wazni. Sofibanque is one of about a dozen banks offering mobile banking accounts in conflict-torn Congo.

For the impoverished country, the introduction of the service is a minor revolution and comes about a year after Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo vowed to end the practice of state workers being paid in cash. With an average annual revenue of $240 per person, most Congolese had never visited a bank, let alone had an account.

Like a number of other countries in Africa and Asia that had only a tiny network of bank branches but where mobile phones are now ubiquitous, the Congo opted for mobile banking.

No smartphones are needed. Clients can pay bills, make deposits or conduct other transactions via text messages.

Many shops, even in rural areas, have the equipment and can take deposits, make withdrawals or make sales with transactions confirmed by clients via phones.

“It’s very practical,” said Barthelemy Bosongo, of the Youth and Sports Ministry.

“Everyone likes it” even though there were a few hiccups with spelling of names at the outset. So far, 270,000 state employees have received bank accounts, and by June all of the 1-million public servants should have accounts. A year ago, only 2% of Congo’s 75-million population had bank accounts. Now that figure is 5.7% — thanks mostly to the government’s push to provide

Workers are now receiving what is actually owed to them, circumventing greedy superiors who used to dip into their pay

them to public servants.

Widespread banking is important for economic development, and while the amounts many Africans hold in their accounts is small, they do add up.

Mr Wazni noted that in Kenya $7bn now flows through the mobile banking system every year. Mobile banking should put a dent in the corruption that victimised even state employees.

According to the head of a nongovernmental organisation which works with the Congolese army, it was common for state workers and soldiers to end up with the equivalent of about $5 after their $60 salaries had passed down the hierarchy.

And it is not only the employees who are benefiting, but the state budget. The switch to mobile banking has helped weed out socalled “ghost workers”, or fictitious people who have been added to the payroll so officials could pocket extra cash.

According to press reports, 30 fictitious schools were recently uncovered in the North Kivu province, employing 200 nonexistent teachers.

The savings should more than cover the $3.50 fee banks receive from the state to set up each of the accounts, much of it shared with the mobile operators.

Godefroid Sizindi, a teacher and trade union activist, said state employees “are waiting impatiently for pay raises” from the millions he believes the government is saving due to the drop in embezzlement. “Matata promised that the money saved would be used to raise the salaries of state employees. We’re waiting,” Mr Sizindi said. Sapa-AFP