Used to think the pricing problem in Kenya/Africa’s products/services was only in the SME sector..but nooo.. looking closely at some offerings by blue chip companies such as telcos and banks you can uncover how some pricing structures are riddled with blatant ‘discrimination’

here is an example from Kenya:
According to a 2019 survey by FinAccess, only 41 percent of Kenyan adults have bank accounts. However, over 80 percent of this population has access to financial services, owing to availability of mobile money services.

Scrapping of transaction fees for bank-to-mobile wallet transactions benefits a segment of the population that is already included in formal financial services. It would require one to open a bank account in order to enjoy cost-free mobile money transfers

The same survey also shows that many of the adults without bank accounts are lower income earners in the informal sector who hardly have money to spare for savings or to maintain bank accounts….an example would be a cross border trader at the Busia border.

They have, therefore, taken to mobile money, which has evolved from simple transfers of money to micro digital loans. The CBK directive leaves the unbanked who depend on mobile money to market dynamics where they are exploited by telcos who then charge them ridiculous amounts

to make mobile money transactions.

Sad.