Your mobile money records are a business asset. Start treating them like one.

Africa did not wait for banks to reach everyone. It built something else. From M-Pesa in Kenya to MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash and AirtelTigo Money in Ghana, and similar services from Senegal to Zambia, mobile money has become the way millions of Africans get paid, pay suppliers and move money.

Most small businesses use it every day. Very few use it to its full value.

The scale is enormous

According to the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, more than $2 trillion flowed through mobile money worldwide in 2025, and around $1.4 trillion of that was in sub-Saharan Africa: about two-thirds of the global total. The region holds more than half of the world’s mobile money accounts.

The GSMA estimated that mobile money added around $190 billion to sub-Saharan Africa’s economy in 2023. In countries including Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, its contribution was more than 5 percent of GDP.

Yet the same research found that about three-quarters of accounts are not used in a typical month, and that fraud and transaction taxes push some users back to cash. The tool is everywhere. Using it well is the opportunity.

Why your transaction history matters

In our article on bank loans, we saw that lenders refuse many small businesses because they cannot see them clearly. There is no record of sales, costs or profit.

Mobile money changes that. Every payment you receive creates a dated, timestamped record held by a regulated provider. Over months, those records show how much money flows through your business, how steady it is, and how it changes through the seasons. That is exactly the kind of evidence lenders, suppliers and partners look for.

It is also why mobile-money-linked credit has become the most widely offered extra service in the industry. Several providers already lend small amounts based on how you use your wallet.

How to turn your wallet into a business record

1. Use a separate wallet for the business

This is the single most important step. If school fees, family transfers and customer payments all flow through one wallet, your history tells a confused story. A dedicated business number, ideally a merchant or business account where your provider offers one, keeps business money clean and visible.

2. Get paid digitally whenever you can

Every sale taken in cash is a sale that disappears from your record. Display your merchant number or payment code clearly, and make paying by mobile money the easy option. Many customers already prefer it.

3. Pay suppliers the same way

Paying suppliers from the business wallet completes the picture. Your statement then shows not just income but costs, which is much closer to real bookkeeping.

4. Download your statements regularly

Most providers let you request statements through the app, USSD or at a service centre. Download them monthly and keep them. When a lender, landlord or partner asks for evidence of income, you will have it ready instead of scrambling.

5. Label what the money is for

Where your app allows references or notes, use them: “stock – rice”, “rent”, “wages”. A few seconds per transaction makes your records far easier to read later.

Protect the asset

If your wallet is a business asset, it deserves protection:

• Never share your PIN, including with staff or anyone claiming to be from the provider. Genuine providers will not ask for it.
• Be alert to reversal scams, where someone claims to have sent money by mistake and asks you to send it back. Check your actual balance and statement before sending anything.
• Set limits for staff. If employees receive payments for you, use a system where the business, not an individual, controls the account.
• Know the charges. Transaction fees and, where they apply, taxes add up. Include them in your pricing rather than absorbing them.

Beyond payments

Mobile money providers across Africa now offer savings, insurance and credit linked to your wallet, and the GSMA reported that the number offering insurance grew by a third in 2025. Used carefully, these can help a small business smooth out bad months and cover emergencies. Read the terms, compare the true cost of any loan, and borrow only for uses that will generate the money to repay it.

Start this week

You are already doing the hardest part: your customers pay you by phone. Separate the business wallet, route payments and costs through it, and keep your statements. In six months, you will have something many small businesses never have: a clear, credible record of what your business is really worth.