About 12 million registered mobile money account users failed to make a single transaction in three months in 2021, latest data from Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shows.
According to the report, of the 32.3 million registered mobile money accounts as at September 2021, only 21.3 million users were able to make at least one withdraw in a period of three months from July 2021.
“In terms of 90-day active users, the total number of mobile money accounts that made at least one Mobile Financial Service (MFS) transaction in the 90 days preceding 30th September 2021 stood at 21.3 million,” the report states.
The 21.3m account for 66% of total registered mobile subscriptions.
The report attributes the trend to the tight economic situation precipitated by the Covid-19 lockdown.
“The period July-September 2021 witnessed one of the more heightened COVID-19 lockdowns and hence slowdown in domestic movements and business. This had an encumbering effect on new SIM acquisitions,” the report says.
However, the number of active mobile money agents grew by a factor of 11% from 285,371 in June 2021 to 315,895 by the end of September 2021.
This reflected a sustained increase in business activity that is gradually positioning the mobile as a financial tool.
In comparison to 2020, the agent footprint across the country grew by 39% in 2021.
Over 88,000 mobile money agents were added to the DFS ecosystem in 2021.