Mobile money in Somalia

How common it is

The 2022 national household survey found that 85 percent of people aged 15 and over owned a mobile phone, and 81.8 percent of phone owners used it for financial transactions (Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022). In 2016 the World Bank already counted 73 percent of people aged 16 and over using mobile money (World Bank blog).

People buy food, pay rent and school fees, take taxis and receive wages and aid this way. Mobile money works on a basic phone through short USSD codes, with no smartphone or internet needed.

The main services

• EVC Plus (Hormuud Telecom), across southern and central Somalia. Reported at about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month, and used by more than 145 aid groups to pay people (TechCabal, June 2026). Hormuud also runs the WAAFI app.
• Zaad (Telesom), in Somaliland. It works in US dollars (GSMA).
• Sahal (Golis Telecom), in Puntland and the northeast (Wikipedia, Golis Telecom Somalia).
• eDahab (Somtel), in Somaliland and beyond. Somaliland's new Wadaag Bank wallet connects to both Zaad and eDahab (Tech Africa).

The rules

The Central Bank of Somalia issued its Mobile Money Regulations in 2019. In February 2021 it gave the first mobile money licence to Hormuud for EVC Plus (VOA). Before then, operators had run for years without a licence, because no regulator was working (University of Oxford research).

By December 2025 the Central Bank had licensed 6 mobile money operators, alongside 13 local banks, 1 foreign bank branch and 14 money transfer businesses (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025). New accounts must now be opened with a national ID, checked through the "Hubiye" eKYC platform (same source). EVC Plus was re-certified by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body, in August 2025 (Garowe Online).

Dollars on the phone

Most mobile money in Somalia is held in US dollars. The Central Bank says dollar transactions on mobile money "have become more favorable for purchasing goods and services", which lowered demand for the shilling and helped push it down 7.1 percent in 2025 (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025). For small change, people still use old shilling notes. See The Somali shilling.

Linking banks and phones

In 2025 the Central Bank launched the Somalia Instant Payment System (SIPS), run through the Somalia Payment Switch. It allows real-time transfers between banks around the clock and is being opened to mobile money operators. It uses a national QR code standard called SOMQR (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025; Techloy).

The older national payment system handled 1.41 million transactions worth $2.42 billion in 2025, up 25 percent in value (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).

How aid uses it

Aid agencies send cash straight to families' phones. Somalia's national safety net, Baxnaano, has reached more than 3.7 million people (World Bank).

Sources disagree

TechCabal gives 155 million transactions a month for EVC Plus alone. Other reports give the same figure for the whole national market (TechAfricaNews). The year EVC Plus started is given as 2009 by some sources and 2011 by others.