The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s leading telecommunications service provider, Ebenezer Twum Asante, has predicted that the one thing that will definitely change the way business is done in Africa is Mobile Money.

Speaking on Digital Lifestyle and Mobile Financial Services, Inclusiveness, Trends and Opportunity, during an interaction with members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Mr. Asante urged all businesses to take advantage of the Mobile Money revolution.

“What brought Mark Zuckerberg to Africa?” he asked. “One, is the digital opportunity and second is Mobile Money, and that’s why he went to Kenya. They can see the future; they can see the trends; they can see where the big money is, and I hope we in Africa can see and grab the opportunity ahead of them.”

He also indicated MTN is leading the way in driving the cashless agenda with Mobile Money. He said, “We are deepening financial inclusion using various payment options, creating more opportunities for people within rural communities to access Mobile Money with services such as mAgric which will allow people to check price of Agric products and pay for services via Mobile Money”.

According to the World Bank, two billion people in developing countries will be using Mobile Money by 2020. In Ghana, Mobile Money subscription has risen from 7% to 20% in four years. Currently, there are 10 million Mobile Money customers registered across all telecommunication networks in Ghana. The number of subscribers of MTN Mobile Money, increased from less than 5000 in the first two years, to hundreds of thousands two years later, and now 7.8million. MTN alone now has more Mobile Money Merchant points (branches) than all banks combined.

“If you look at the spate of growth, depth and spread of Mobile Money, its relevance is without doubt; it is the power that is connecting the physical and the virtual,” he said.

Mr Asante, urged businesses and individuals to take advantage of the partnership modules that Mobile Money has with insurance companies, banks, e-commerce entities, and many other organisations. Every business, he said, can also take advantage of this revolution irrespective of the sector or industry. Contrary to speculations that Mobile Money is a threat to the financial industry, Mr Asante predicted that the two industries may eventually converge.

“The whole debate about Telcos being a threat to financial institution is just part of the change process. Whether we like it or not, the two industries eventually will come closer and closer”, he said.

He assured MTN Mobile Money subscribers that there are clear mitigation plans to ensure that the platform is robust enough to discourage scams associated with Mobile Money transactions. MTN Mobile Money was adjudged the Best Mobile Money Service in Ghana 2014 and 2015 by the Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards.

The CEO of MTN also responded to several issues and questions raised by the Marketing practitioners. The program was organised by CIMG and MTN as part of the Marketing body’s regular interaction with industry leaders. It was attended by the President of the CIMG Mr Kojo Mattah and other executives and members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana.