Competition in Mobile Financial Services: Lessons from Kenya and Tanzania

This working paper aims to provide insights on the role that effective competition and competition policy play in developing mobile financial services (MFS), and in turn promoting financial inclusion using Kenya and Tanzania as case countries. The aim is to have two distinct, but complementary products: 1. To identify and, where appropriate, contrast the competition issues of MFS in Kenya and Tanzania. This will offer insights on how effective competition might be improved to make markets work well and, in turn, increase financial inclusion and consumer welfare. 2. Draw on the experiences of Kenya and Tanzania to highlight to policy makers and regulators in more nascent MFS markets the aspects of competition policy they may wish to monitor or investigate as their own MFS markets develop.