Samuel’s story

Samuel began his career as a mobile money agent in 2015, working for someone else's company. Inspired by the potential of the business, he opened his own mobile money shop in 2019. Initially, the venture was quite profitable; he earned commissions from transactions and KYC registrations for new SIM cards and replacements.

His store is located near a hospital, so many doctors and patients visit him to avail mobile money services. However, over time, the profitability of the business began to stagnate.

Due to a rise in mobile money fraud, most agents were barred from performing KYC registrations and SIM replacements, limiting these services to service centres and a select few authorised agents. Additionally, the commissions on mobile money transactions decreased, making the business less viable. The entry of numerous new mobile money agents intensified the competition in the market.

Realising that he could not achieve his financial goals by relying solely on his DFS business, Samuel decided to diversify his income. He began riding a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) through a service called "boda banja," which allows individuals to acquire a motorcycle with a small down payment and pay off the balance in installments.

To effectively manage his time, Samuel now offers mobile money services only during peak hours from 7 PM to 10 PM. This schedule allows him to ride his boda boda during the day while operating his mobile money shop in the evenings and sometimes late at night when boda clients require his services.

“My customers trust me very much and now understand that I only work in the late evening so they adjusted and am able to work on them all within the time that I operate despite there being other mobile money agents who operate during day hours.” - Samuel