# Mobile money is the road to everyone

> Mobile money is how almost every Somali pays and gets paid: more than 89% use it as their main financial tool, while fewer than 1 in 10 have a bank account.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/forces/mobile-money-is-the-road-to-everyone/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The force

In Somalia people pay for food, rent, school fees and taxis from their phones. They receive wages, help from family abroad and aid the same way. This habit is older and deeper than in most of Africa.

- In 2016, 73% of people aged 16 and over used mobile money ([World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/nasikiliza/a-game-changer-the-prospects-and-pitfalls-of-mobile-money-in-somalia)).
- By 2023 more than 89% used it as their main financial tool, while only 8.8% had formal bank access ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)).
- In 2025, 85% of adults owned a mobile phone and 82% used it for money ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)).

## How big it is

EVC Plus, run by Hormuud, handles about 155 million transactions worth about $2.7 billion a month ([TechCabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/06/19/techcabal-daily-somalias-accidental-bank/)). It is used by more than 145 aid groups to pay people, and one agency can send up to $1 million in one go.

## Sources differ

TechCabal gives the 155 million figure for EVC Plus alone. TechAfricaNews gives the same figure for the whole national market, citing the World Bank ([TechAfricaNews](https://techafricanews.com/2025/08/20/somalias-hormuud-telecom-secures-gsma-mobile-money-re-certification/)). The launch year of EVC Plus is also given as 2009 in some sources and 2011 in others.

## Rules and trust

The Central Bank's Mobile Money Regulation dates from 2019 ([Central Bank of Somalia](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mobile-Money-Regulation-2019.pdf)), and the first licence went to EVC Plus in 2021 ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/somalia-issues-its-first-mobile-money-licence-to-hormuud-telecom/)). EVC Plus was re-certified by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body, in August 2025 ([Garowe Online](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-hormuud-telecom-re-certified-by-gsma-for-secure-mobile-money-services)). In Somaliland, Zaad and eDahab play the same role.

## Outside the country

Worldwide, mobile money passed $2 trillion of transactions in 2025, twice the 2021 level ([GSMA](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-money-accounted-for-2-trillion-in-transactions-in-2025-doubling-since-2021-as-active-accounts-continue-to-grow/)).

## Why it is a tailwind

Payments, the hardest part of reaching people, are already solved in Somalia. A new service can charge a few cents, pay a worker or collect a donation from its first day, from any phone, in any town.

## What it means for young Somalis

A young Somali can be paid for work the moment it is done, without a bank. Every service built for young people can reach them where their money already is.

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