In the National Payment System report for the second quarter of this year, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says mobile money operators continue to dwell in urban areas compared to rural areas.

According to the central bank, the above is negatively affecting the digital financial inclusion agenda, as 78.1%, of mobile money agents are located in urban and semi-urban areas, with the remaining 21.9% are in rural areas. The report says that the figures show that there is need for more interventions in rural areas to increase both the footprint of agents as well as incentivising them to be actively involved in the delivery of the mobile money services.

Earlier in March this year, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) was set to roll out an initiative known as the Universal Service Fund, which is aimed providing means to the majority of Malawians in the rural areas who do not have adequate access to information and communication technology (ICT) services. MACRA invited the Parliamentary Media Committee to its offices at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre on Tuesday to appraise it on the progress being done. During the presentation, it was outlined that rural areas lack adequate access to ICT services, which was attributed to poor or no network coverage.