Two services of Bermuda-based mobile phone network provider Digicel Group, Tcho Tcho Mobile and Voila’s T-Cash, will share an award of USD 3.2 million from the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a competition developed by the Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises (HIFIVE) incentive fund that provides prize money from the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a US government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance. The award recognizes that the two companies have reached the 5 million transaction milestone since being launched in 2010. This is the final grant from the USD 10 million incentive fund that was created in 2010 to encourage mobile money technology in the wake of the earthquake that wracked much of Haiti in 2010. In the next two years, HMMI will continue to support mobile money services in working to achieve sustainability by addressing areas including customer education, product development and agent and merchant network expansion.
Since its inception in 2010, HMMI has awarded USD 2.5 million to Digicel for being the first operator on the market and USD 1.5 million to Viola for being the second. Another USD 100,000 and USD 1 million in “scaling awards” were shared by Digicel and Viola. Voila was acquired by Digicel Group from US-based Trilogy International Partners in March 2012. Digicel Group Limited reports approximately 12.8 million customers across 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.
USAID offers a suite of resources aimed at improving the outcomes of microenterprise development research and practice at http://microlinks.kdid.org/.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Based in the US, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides grants to organizations in approximately 100 countries with the aim of enhancing health care, reducing poverty and expanding access to education and information technology. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative focuses on providing people with secure places to save money. To support this initiative, the foundation works with financial organizations to increase access to technology (point-of-sale from sales devices, automated teller machines, etc.) and to forge partnerships among mobile phone companies, banks and microfinance institutions. It also supports the startup and growth of new banks in “difficult markets.” As of June 30, 2011, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reported an endowment of USD 36.3 billion. In 2010, the foundation awarded USD 2.6 billion in grants.
About US Agency for International Development (USAID)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a government agency that provides international economic and humanitarian assistance. It focuses on areas such as economic growth, agriculture, trade, health, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. Under the Development Credit Authority (DCA), it provides credit guarantees that cover up to 50 percent of defaults on wholesale loans made by private financial institutions to institutions that lend on a retail basis to underserved borrowers. USAID had a total of USD 23.8 billion in budgetary resources in 2011.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “Press Release: Haiti Mobile Money Initiative Reaches the Five Million Transaction Milestone and Awards Final Prize in Incentive Program,” http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/haiti-mobile-money-milestone-120710.aspx
MicroCapital.org story, June 21, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: USAID, Citi to Bring Mobile Money Technology to Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-usaid-citi-to-bring-mobile-money-technology-to-colombia-haiti-indonesia-kenya-the-philippines/
MicroCapital.org story, May 30, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haiti Mobile Money Initiative, Managed by World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), Continues to Seek Recipients for $12m in Grants for Development of Mobile Payment Platforms from Gates Foundation, USAID,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-haiti-mobile-money-initiative-managed-by-world-council-of-credit-unions-woccu-continues-to-seek-recipients-for-12m-in-grants-for-development-of-mobile-payment-platforms-from-g/
MicroCapital.org story, January 18, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Provides $10m for Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI) in Collaboration with US Agency for International Development,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-provides-10m-for-haiti-mobile-money-initiative-hmmi-in-collaboration-with-us-agency-for-international-development-aid/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Bill+and+Melinda+Gates+Foundation
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Unites States Agency for International Development
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=United+States+Agency+for+International+Development+%28USAID%29
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Launch Mobile Money Program in Ethiopia
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Al-Qutaibi Funding Renewable Energy Products, Climate Adaptation Strategies for SMEs, Farmers in Yemen in Collaboration with USAID
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Digital Finance Campaign Replication Guide,” Published by USAID
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Liberation Community Finance Expanding Branch Network, Product Lineup for Farmers, Women, Youth in Uganda
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Driving Digital Financial Services in Africa Through Merchant Acceptance of Digital Payments,” published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)
