Policy implications and mobile money regulatory approaches to promote financial inclusion of the poor in Zimbabwe after the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The increased usage of digital financial products and financial services such as mobile money brought various challenges and opportunities in Zimbabwe during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This has also increased the responsibilities of the regulatory authorities in the Zimbabwean financial sector. The financial regulators were inadequately prepared for the regulatory demands of financial technology (fintech) products in Zimbabwe. For instance, they struggled to cope with the increased responsibilities of overseeing mobile money operators and have adequate resources to efficiently monitor and manage such operators to ensure compliance with the relevant laws. Most Zimbabwean financial regulators did not have sufficient resources to employ persons with the relevant skills and expertise to fulfil their responsibilities. Despite this, the widespread use of mobile money has considerably improved the financial inclusion of the poor and previously unbanked persons, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe. Consequently, various policy implications and mobile money regulatory approaches that were considered by policymakers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe in a bid to provide adequate supervision of mobile money operators and related digital financial services to curb the financial exclusion of the poor and unbanked persons are investigated. It is against this background that this article discusses the challenges, policy implications, and flaws affecting the adoption of viable mobile money regulatory approaches to promote financial inclusion of the poor in Zimbabwe after the COVID-19 pandemic.