In the last month, the United Nations General Assembly approved the sustainable development goals. The cornerstone of these goals is poverty alleviation. This means that in the last 30 days, the opportunity for businesses to impact the most important global agenda in the development arena has improved drastically.
"The ability to create inclusive economies clearly has benefits for everyone. If everyone is able to participate in the economy, everyone benefits. Especially the poor."
This was the sentiment from David Lubinski, senior programme officer for financial services for the poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He was moderating a panel discussion around interoperability at the GSMA Mobile 360 event being held in Cape Town this week.
"Digital platforms and digital financial services are a key pathway to unlocking this potential for the poor," he added. Interoperability is an imperative - for business and for financial inclusion, stressed Lubinski. "Interoperability is meaningful. It is important. It provides the opportunity to realise a bigger market, to open up potential revenue opportunities and it improves the user experience. But it does require some different ways of working."
Speaking specifically about the mobile money landscape in Rwanda, Faith Chisulo, head of mobile financial services at Tigo Cash Rwanda, outlined the importance of financial inclusion in the region. According to Chisulo, collaboration is essential in order to promote an economy where everyone has access and is able to participate. "We need to remove customer inconvenience. Customers need to be able to connect one mobile wallet with another without any hassle. This is where interoperability comes in."
Clients in Madagascar, much like those in many regions across Africa, need to be able to send money from one operator to another with ease, said Stanislas Chevillard, director of Orange Money at Orange Madagascar.
Echoing Chisulo's comments, he highlighted the importance of cooperation between industry players. This can be complicated because essentially we have to work with our competitors, but the reality is that we are all collectively competing against cash, he continued. "It really isn't easy to take the first step but once you have taken that first step with your competitors, it is so much easier to continue."
This is a chance for all of us to increase our client base by connecting the unbanked with the means to access services that were previously unavailable, Chevillard went on to say.
Lubinski agreed. Working together with others is exceptionally important, he said. "Once you get beyond the realisation that you need to work together and you are able to work together; it is essential to develop rules to dictate how you will work together."
Interoperability is multifaceted, stated Chidi Okpala, director and head of Airtel Money at Airtel Africa. "What is required for us to take this industry to where it should is collaboration. It requires a lot of investment and resourceful business movements. But we can't do it alone."
He emphasised regulators also have a role to play in this discussion. "We need to align our interests to ensure we all work as a team and give customers what they need and want."
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