[kictanet] The Political Economy of Remittances

Wed Dec 16 15:47:05 EAT 2015

A report  <http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2014/04/04/savings-of-44-billion>by the World Bank (April 2014) had this to say:

There are five “corridors” – a country to country transfer – with an average fee higher than 20%, all of them in Africa. Migrant workers in South Africa, for example, paid an average of just over 23% in fees on the money they sent to Botswana in 2012, making it the most expensive remittance channel in the world.Sending money from South Africa <http://www.theguardian.com/world/africa> to Mozambique was the second most costly channel, with an average 22% fee imposed on transfers.

“Forcing migrant workers to pay as much as $50 to send $200 is wrong, especially when they are sending salaries they have earned in the hope of supporting their families back home,”

An earlier report <http://www.odi.org/remittances-africa> by ODI (April 2014) raised the same point.

Linking this back to Kenya - there are systemic hurdles denying entry into the remittance market innovative, cost effective competitors and this, in concert with existing market dominance forces, keep costs high.

If Lipisha/Bitpesa/CBK/Safaricom case taught us something, it is that competition on these high stake sectors are not that fair or transparent.

---
Moses Karanja | @Mose_Karanja <https://twitter.com/Mose_Karanja> | PGP: 0x1529552F <https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=index&fingerprint=on&search=0x1529552F>

> On Dec 16, 2015, at 3:34 PM, kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote:
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>   1. Re: Public Notice by CBK on Virtual Currencies (meshack emakunat)
>   2. Re: Public Notice by CBK on Virtual Currencies (Ali Hussein)
> 
> From: meshack emakunat <memakunat at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Public Notice by CBK on Virtual Currencies
> Date: December 16, 2015 at 1:58:28 PM EAT
> To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Reply-To: meshack emakunat <memakunat at yahoo.com>
> 
> 
> Hello All
> 
> did you know that migrant Africans are charged a whole 12% or more on remittances back home from developed countries and that these charges are 2wice the global rate.  and that 66% of the global (to africa) remittances are from MTOs such as Moneygram and Western union
> 
> REGARDS
> 
> MESHACK
> 
> 
> 
> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015 10:52 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> 
> 
> Josiah
> 
> Umeongea kama wazee kumi! (spoken like 10 wise men!)
> 
> Ali Hussein
> Principal
> Hussein & Associates
> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
> 
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
> Skype: abu-jomo
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
> Blog: www.alyhussein.com <http://www.alyhussein.com/>
> 
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On 15 Dec 2015, at 1:24 PM, Josiah Mugambi via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
> 
>> BitPesa requires proof of identity before use. I found it quite lengthy and a tad tedious while signing up sometimes back. That somewhat takes care of KYC procedures though.
>> I think CBK are obligated to make this position as a caveat emptor. An idea for them might be to use this case with BitPesa as a pilot with the view of coming up with regulations. Especially as cryptocurrencies are not going away any time soon.
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>> 
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
> 
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> 
> 
> From: Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Public Notice by CBK on Virtual Currencies
> Date: December 16, 2015 at 3:27:13 PM EAT
> To: meshack emakunat <memakunat at yahoo.com>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> 
> 
> Meshack
> 
> You have brought Ina whole new dimension to this discussion.
> 
> Your assertions by the way are true. That is however changing very fast with new players surfacing very fast. This is a $580 billion global money movement space with about $50 billion in fees/and or forex spreads. You can now see why bitcoins can upset the apple cart..but that's a discussion for another day.
> 
> To Mwendwa's question/comment about bitcoins and Imperial Bank. Not sure this is an apples for apples comparison. Bitcoins are a currency and Imperial Bank issue is mainly one of depositors potentially loosing money because of unscrupulous management and inability of Central Bank to timely regulate.
> 
> Ali Hussein
> Principal
> Hussein & Associates
> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
> 
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
> Skype: abu-jomo
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
> Blog: www.alyhussein.com <http://www.alyhussein.com/>
> 
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On 16 Dec 2015, at 1:58 PM, meshack emakunat <memakunat at yahoo.com <mailto:memakunat at yahoo.com>> wrote:
> 
>> Hello All
>> 
>> did you know that migrant Africans are charged a whole 12% or more on remittances back home from developed countries and that these charges are 2wice the global rate.  and that 66% of the global (to africa) remittances are from MTOs such as Moneygram and Western union
>> 
>> REGARDS
>> 
>> MESHACK
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Wednesday, December 16, 2015 10:52 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Josiah
>> 
>> Umeongea kama wazee kumi! (spoken like 10 wise men!)
>> 
>> Ali Hussein
>> Principal
>> Hussein & Associates
>> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
>> 
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>> Blog: www.alyhussein.com <http://www.alyhussein.com/>
>> 
>> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> On 15 Dec 2015, at 1:24 PM, Josiah Mugambi via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
>> 
>>> BitPesa requires proof of identity before use. I found it quite lengthy and a tad tedious while signing up sometimes back. That somewhat takes care of KYC procedures though.
>>> I think CBK are obligated to make this position as a caveat emptor. An idea for them might be to use this case with BitPesa as a pilot with the view of coming up with regulations. Especially as cryptocurrencies are not going away any time soon.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> kictanet mailing list
>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet>
>>> 
>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com>
>>> 
>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>> 
>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
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>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet>
>> 
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/memakunat%40yahoo.com <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/memakunat%40yahoo.com>
>> 
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>> 
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>> 
> 
> 
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