International Development Group, LLC (IDG) is assisting Africell Group, a leading mobile network operator, as well as Angolan authorities, to use digitalization of financial services through introduction of mobile money, in order to increase access to finance and financial inclusion for Angola’s unbanked, while also promoting cybersecurity and countering malign influence in the digital sphere. IDG provides this assistance through the USAID Technical Assistance Project for Economic Growth (TAP EG).
The Dinheiro Digital é Melhor (DDM, “Better Than Cash”) Activity works to provide technical assistance to the Africell Group and local partners, aiding in the implementation of digital payments and expanding the user base and usage of Afrimoney. DDM just launched the first training for Female Empowerment for Inclusion and Financial Literacy, where 500 women will be trained to become agents and promote mobile money in the field. 150 brand ambassadors will also be onboarded to help spread awareness and knowledge of digital payments in local markets in Luanda.
“I enjoyed taking part in the Financial Inclusion training by Dinheiro Digital é Melhor. I learned the importance of saving and using digital money. I have shared the experience with my colleagues in the market and have been working with Afrimoney to expand the use of digital money in the market. I encourage the cause of continuing to emancipate women to become agents, supporting them to also be agents, inside and outside Luanda,” said Conceição da Costa André, one of the participants in the training.
Recently, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Angola and met with some women agents and brand ambassadors who attended the training. Sandro Luis de Sousa Mangueira, a brand ambassador with the program said, “I made some demonstrations of how the agent service works, and Secretary Blinken seemed impressed.” The Activity provides phones, as well as financial literacy training, to empower participants with the knowledge needed to develop their businesses and successfully market to new users.
DDM promotes an enabling environment and supports wider mobile money ecosystem development. The Activity aims to improve regulation of the digital financial services sector, reducing bureaucratic barriers, enabling growth of the sector, and safeguarding cybersecurity by ensuring protection against domestic and foreign malign influence.
