Reaching beyond existing demand

If I had a choice I would like to live in a world where payments are completely pushed to the background. That belief was re-enforced after using Mobile Phone Money launched in Uganda in 2009. Every transaction I have done was via mobile phone. Sending money or paying was so easy; it was just SMS away, courtesy of Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) Mobile Money, the widely celebrated mobile money payment system launched in 2009. Currently, about 50% of adult population in Uganda transact through Mobile Phone money. One thing cool about Mobile Phone Money is that it allows payments between private individuals which credit cards don't usually allow. If done right, it is much easier to sell the idea of Mobile Money to the poor than selling the idea of banking and other complicated financial services. Every time their airtime balance runs out they go to the nearest shop and recharge talk time. They trust the system much more than they understand it. If there is one thing Uganda showed to the world beyond a shadow of doubt is if done right, mobile phone money can be a real catalyst of a developing economy ensuring financial inclusion of those at the bottom of the pyramid in the true sense.

Autorentext

Dr. Patrick Orotin worked as Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist; Research and Evaluation Advisor; Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor; and as Projects Coordinator for the United Nations, USAID, EU, and DfID programmes. The motivation to write "A Handbook for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation" was hatched out of this vast experience.