I  saw a posting on banktech.com, which led to an article on Voice of America. The basic claim of the headline – that a new mobile banking service, built on top of the existing and very successful M-Pesa money transfer service, will help eliminate poverty in Africa. This new banking service is called M-Kesho (I would love to know what that means (Kesho means “tomorrow” – thanks to Mr. Njunge for that), and is intended to reach the 60% of more of Kenyans who have no access to banking services (or to savings, loans, insurance, etc.). Of course, the headline is a bit of a stretch, but the article’s contention is that these banking services (which also enable money transfers between two people) are a critical component to ending poverty. I suspect, though, that eliminating corruption, building political stability, and providing the infrastructure for commerce across the country will also be critical to making a dent in the level of poverty, in Africa and elsewhere.

Banktech article: http://www.banktech.com/blog/archives/2010/05/could_mobile_ba.html?cid=nl_bnk_daily

Voice of America article: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Mobile-Banking-Gives-Kenyans-New-Weapon-Against-Poverty-94942564.html

I’d welcome your thoughts. If you have comments you’re willing to share publicly, please do so – thanks.