New data provides the most comprehensive picture yet of digital financial services (DFS) access and usage in Ghana and Rwanda.
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Financial Inclusion Insights surveys (FII) released on December 15 in both markets provide a nationally representative data on DFS that facilitates comparisons with other global leaders. Several key findings emerged from the surveys.
Rwanda and Ghana on similar trajectory
 Similar proportions of the adult populations in Rwanda and Ghana are actively using mobile money. While 20 per cent of adults in Ghana now have mobile money accounts, Rwanda has 23 per cent of its adults having it.
Also 17 per cent of adults in both Rwanda and Ghana have their own mobile money accounts that were used in the last 90 days.
These figures position Rwanda and Ghana behind the three regional leaders, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, but ahead of many other countries where DFS is on the rise, although there are very different underlying conditions.
Most "DFS-ready" country
Ghana is the most "DFS-ready" country in Africa with 92 per cent of adults having the required identity cards (ID) necessary to open an account, 95 per cent have basic numeracy; 91 per cent own a mobile phone and 74 per cent already send and receive text messages.
In contrast, Rwanda faces bigger challenges in DFS readiness and in some ways is punching above its weight in the progress made so far: 87 per cent of adults have an ID necessary to open a financial account; 87 per cent of adults have basic numeracy; only 47 per cent of adults own a mobile phone and just 37 per cent send and receive text messages.
Rwanda also has poorer population than Ghana – 57 per cent of adults said they were unable to earn more than they spend each month in comparison with Ghana's 14 per cent.
Despite seemingly having all the ingredients in place, DFS has not reached the same penetration in Ghana as its East African counterparts. By the same token, Rwanda's success so far has occurred against the odds.
The story behind this is complex, but customer incentives are likely playing a big role in this scenario. In Rwanda, only 16 per cent of adults already have a bank account and mobile money is often their only option when it comes to formal financial services.
In Ghana, however, 34 per cent of adults already have a bank account, and 45 per cent of those individuals access it through mobile apps or the Internet. Since they are able to bank elsewhere, they may have less initial incentive to try mobile money.
There is cause for optimism in Ghana, however, as the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) estimates (based on supply-side numbers from providers) that the number of active users has increased about 2.5 fold in just one year.
CGAP expects this trend to continue, especially in the light of the new regulations passed in July 2015 and an awakening among policymakers of the critical role that mobile money plays in driving financial inclusion.
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