Hormuud Telecom has today been awarded with the country’s first Mobile Money Certification by the global mobile network operators’ industry body, GSMA for its EVC Plus product.
Hormuud Telecom’s CEO, Ahmed Mohamud Yuusuf said: “Mobile money was first introduced to Somalia just 10 years ago, and the country has come a long way over the past decade. From the market trader in Mogadishu to the international remittance company in London, we want to expand a digital economy that every Somali can have trust in.
“With this GSMA certification, we hope that the international community recognises the world class standards for safety and security that Hormuud is built on,” Yuusuf added.
Already a cornerstone of daily life, mobile money has gained popularity across Africa since the start of the pandemic. As Capacity has reported international mobile money transactions increased by 65% in 2020, with a total of US$12.7 billion transferred across borders during the year. In 2021, Kenyans made 1.9 trillion mobile money transactions in the first 11 months, worth more than US$55 billion.
In 2020 Africell committed to expand its mobile money platform, AfriMoney, as the firm’s CEO unveiled a new growth strategy that will take the operator into new markets and over at MTN last year, CEO Ralph Mupita told the FT that its mobile money unit could to be priced at $5billion to $6billion.
EVC Plus is Somalia’s first mobile money platform and counts more then three million users, including consumers, MSMEs and humanitarian organisations. In fact, EVC Plus is so integral to the economy in Somalia that Hormuud Telecom even uses it for its own remittances. In 2021 EVC Plus became the first mobile money platform to be backed by the Central Bank
The GSMA’s accreditation process saw Hormuud assessed for safeguarding of funds, fraud prevention and the security of systems and data privacy, among other areas. It was marked against eight core principles, and nearly 300 different criteria.
Hormuud Telecom joins sixteen other mobile money platforms, including Safaricom’s MPESA, Orange Money, Vodaphone MPESA and MTN MOMO in being awarded the certification. This puts Hormuud amongst the top thirteen of 157 mobile money providers in Africa for safety and security.
Hormuud Telecom is Somalia’s largest telecommunications provider and largest private sector employer. It was the first Somali enterprise to become ISO certified in 2020, and in the same year pledged to extend its 4G broadband services nationwide.
BY OSMAN HUSSEIN ALI
