The new product is aimed at lower-earning individuals who may not be the target market for the mainstream financial services sector.
The move to introduce insurance under beMOBILE Smega, BTC's mobile money product, boosts the group’s fintech reach and is expected to result in an increase in market share.
BTC Mobile, the youngest of the three mobile network operators in the country, has broad plans to boost its market share both in voice and the mobile money sector, the latter of which is one of the country’s fastest-growing financial services industries.
Speaking at the launch of the Hollard partnership on Tuesday, BTCL managing director Anthony Masunga, said that the group has in the past had to change due to the changing nature of market needs.
He said all the changes represent a desire to stay ahead of the market evolution and innovation.
“In 2016, we listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and since then we have been undergoing some serious transformation,” he said. “More investment has been flowing into our fintech space and we have been working around the clock to improve Smega.”
Hollard managing director, Tabuya Tau, said that the new partnership will put the telecomms ahead taking into account the growing mobile phone penetration rate which has been growing exponentially and which represents how lucrative the mobile money market is in Botswana.
“We are currently sitting at a 160% mobile penetration rate and this means on average one Motswana has two mobile phones, showing how big the market is. “This is expected to keep growing further and we believe with BTCL we can tap into this fast-growing market,” she said.
The growth of the mobile money market is largely fuelled by the rising mobile subscriber base owing to the increasing number of cheaper mobile phones and surging network coverage in Botswana. Moreover, companies continue to come up with new innovative mobile-oriented functionalities and solutions to bring the world to the customer’s fingertips.
This in turn has stirred stiff competition amongst industry participants.
The mobile money market in Botswana has been highly contested amongst Smega by BTC, Orange Money by Orange Botswana, MyZaka by Mascom, and Poso Money by BotswanaPost. Statistics Botswana figures show that at the last count, the country had 1.8 million mobile money subscriptions.
A report by the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority indicates that Orange has remained ahead of the pack, enjoying market dominance of about 53% market share. Orange Money is followed by Mascom’s MyZaka with a 36% market share or 611,550 subscriptions, and Smega comes significantly ahead of Poso Money in the hierarchy of user preferences.
Statistics Botswana’s figures suggest that growth in the mobile money market has been both horizontal and vertical, with users taking on more subscriptions across the service providers and new subscribers uniquely signing on to the service.
