MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES IN AFRICA? IMAGINE THE NEXT DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS IN

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Did you know that Africans can already store and send money to each other, mobile to mobile, without even having bank accounts? The explosion of mobile financial services has helped 6 countries in Africa join the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. What will be the next wave of disruptive innovation in mobile financial services for Africa?

Join the Swarm Vision community of proven innovators, enter your ideas, and be part of Africa’s rise.

https://swarmvision.ideascale.com/a/pages/inspiration-campaignhttps://swarmvision.ideascale.com/a/pages/inspiration-campaign

Through text, designs, collages, PowerPoint presentations, sketches, short videos/animations, photographs, etc.,...imagine and illustrate what the next wave in mobile financial services will be in Africa!

Generate as many innovative ideas as you can for new mobile financial products and solutions serving Africa. You may consider these three customer groups in your ideas, or use the “Other” idea category:

(See page 2 for more information and insights on these three customer segments. You can also scan these articles for inspiration https://swarmvision.ideascale.com/a/pages/inspiration-campaign)

Young Adults: African adults ages 18-24, born mobile, ambitious, globally aware. They expect friction-free, 100% digital products and services. The whole banking experience seems like a needless artifact to them, from paper-based account sign ups, to paying for downloads with plastic, to splitting cash expenses with friends.

Entrepreneurs: Africans are not waiting for the government or foreign aid. They are taking opportu-nity into their own hands and creating businesses. Yet African entrepreneurs often have to transact in cash, and can rarely get expansion loans. Entrepreneurs are the engine of Africa’s rise. But limited access to financial services is a daily barrier to their success.

Diaspora: Over 180 million Africans live around the world, and maintain strong ties to home. They are sending money, knowledge and connections to help Africa thrive, even running African busi-nesses from abroad. Cross-border money and business management remain an extreme hassle.

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1. I transfer money to my family back home using my mobile all the time, but I am unable to transfer money to family and friends who use different telcos. This is very frustrating. I wish there was an easy way to transfer money to anyone.

2. I'd like to buy something online. I have a bank account and a mobile money account, but no credit card. I am frustrated that the only way to pay for online purchases is with a card. I wish there was an alternative way to pay with my phone.

3. I just started working and had to open up several different bank accounts. After the long queue at the branch, I was irritated that I had to present all kinds of documents and go through the registration process over and over for the different accounts. Why can't I open all my accounts without paper, all in one go?

AMA (GHANA)

Ama grew up in the rural town of Ho in Ghana. Her parents owned a farm supply shop where she worked after school. She was a good student, and was able to attend the Univer-sity of Accra studying business.

Her ambition is to start a com-pany that provides cheap, pre-fab housing for people living in slums.

Ama has a Chinese smartphone and uses it all the time. With mobile money she is able to receive money from her parents, buy airtime, save small amounts, and split everyday purchases with friends.

ALFRED (NIGERIA)

Alfred has a small video production business in Lagos. He started after secondary school with a single, beat-up camera. In the past 10 years, he has built his clientele to include many businesses. He has 5 years of banking history, but still he can’t get a business loan.

Alfred’s ambition is to add on to his studio so he can get ahead and start to save.

Alfred has two phones — a feature phone for everyday calls, and an Android for busi-ness email. He uses mobile money for everyday expenses, but feels constrained by the daily transaction limits.

SELORM (KENYA)

Selorm grew up in a relatively affluent part of Nairobi. He went to university in the UK, and decided to move back to Nairobi to start a business.

Selorm and his buddies from London started an Internet shopping business, bringing high quality goods to other affluent Africans living in and beyond the continent.

Their shopping site uses local mobile money agents for deliv-eries, so customers can ship goods to their families in rural areas. Selorm’s ambition is to grow the business into the #1 internet shopping site in Africa..

1. I own a small business and am highly dependent on cash to pay my suppliers and receive money from my customers. I feel vulnerable carrying so much cash because of the risk of loss. I wish there was a safer way to conduct my business.

2. When I apply for a busi-ness loan, the bank makes me fill out a pile of forms. These forms are annoying and repeti-tive. The bank has so much information on me and my customers, yet they make me feel like a stranger. They should know me already. There should be an easier way for me to gain the credit I deserve.

3. I struggle to pay my bills because my customers pay me at different times. I wish I could better manage and pay my bills on time using my phone.

1. I bank with several banks in different countries to accom-modate my international lifestyle. It makes me anxious that I have no overall view of my balances. I wish I had a way to view my total balances across my accounts, and move money between them with ease.

2. I would like to expand my business internationally, but I am concerned about the risks of international delivery and payment. I don't want to make a mistake and lose everything I've built up. I wish there was a way to manage these risks and get advice on running my inter-national business.

3. I need to send money to support my family in another country. It is dangerous and expensive to do so and requires standing in long queues. I wish there was a fast, safe, and reliable way to send money internationally.

YOUNG ADULTS ENTREPRENEURS DIASPORA

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•The Proposal text must be in English•The Proposal visualization must be an electronic file no larger than 20 MB in one of the following formats: Images: .jpg/.jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .png Microsoft Office: doc, docx ppt, pptx, pps, ppsx xls, xlsx PDF: pdf, ps Open Office: odt, odp, sxw, sxi, etc. Text: txt, rtf Videos must be under 3 minutes and must be uploaded to a private YouTube link. The url should be provided in the idea entry form.•The Proposal cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion, contest or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means.

The Contest will be run in phases, as follows:

19 September through 29 October: Idea submission and Assessment 30 October through 12 November: Visualization (open only for visual uploads to existing ideas) 13 November through 26 November: Short-listing and Winner Selection

Participants are eligible to win multiple prizes. Participants are eligible for prizes regardless of their Swarm Innovation ProfilerTM Survey results.

Participants:— Must register on www.swarmvision.com and complete the short Swarm Innovation Profiler quiz— Must be the age of majority in your place of residence— Undertake to submit creative and original works— Warrant that you hold all rights for submitted works and warrant that the use of your entries in the contest does not violate any third parties' rights.— Acknowledge that in case of breach of these rules, the contest Administrator shall be entitled to deem your participation and the prize granting void.

There are four categories of prizes. Winning criteria for each are:

Idea Criteria:•Relevance: Entry is relevant to the theme of the contest and to the idea category indicated on the idea entry form.•Desirability: Entry would be very appealing to the indicated customer group.•Innovativeness: Entry is truly new to the category of mobile financial services in Africa.

Best Visualization Criteria: •Creativity (freshness and detail of artistic interpretation) and Relevance of the entry.

Most Valuable Optimizer Criteria: •Based on the number and quality of constructive suggestions on other participants’ idea entries.

Most Influential Criteria: •Based on the number of votes on, and the number and quality of assessments of, other participants’ entries.

A total of $10,000 USD in prizes will be awarded!

BEST IDEA: $2,500, $1,500, and $1,000 BEST VISUALIZATION: Two $1,000 prizes MOST VALUABLE IDEA OPTIMIZER: Three $500 prizes MOST INFLUENTIAL: Three $500 prizes

The sponsor is a leading financial services company with offices throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The sponsor is committed to promoting growth in Africa through innovative financial solutions.

For complete terms and conditions, see https://swarmvision.ideascale.com/a/pages/terms