MobiKash: Bringing Financial Services to Rural Africa
Management Information Systems
Mr. Violand
19/1/16
Carl Carlson 14-0635
Gonzalo Pérez 15-0128

There are many commercially available software in which firms can base m-commerce systems, in this particular case study we the MobiKash Afrika. MobiKash Afrika hopes to change this by empowering people in Africa with a secure and independent mobile commerce system that is easy to use. As with any company they have standards which include but are not limited to; the service must be independent of specific mobile telephone operators, the service must not require smartphones or high end feature phones. In essence they want anyone and everyone with a phone in Africa to use their service. In order to give this service, they already the MobiKash system is based on Sybase 365 mCommerce software, an independent software apart from their company.
Many questions arise from the fact that they are renting an available software. Is it in fact better for companies to use other software available on the market or to create the software themselves and create the code and house the servers. The answer in the end like many broad questions such as this is, it depends. It depends on the usage the company will give it and the company itself. In this case we have MobiKash, an African based company who most has the vision to give this service to many countries but doesn’t have the software and or capital investment needed to create such software. For them it would be more useful to use and outsource this software.
As with many scenarios in real life it is always a good idea to do a Pros and Cons list or a SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). For MobiKash there may be even the same quantity of pros and cons, but what it mostly comes down to is the opportunity cost and the comparative advantage of outsourcing software.
The Cons of using Sybase 365 is renting the equipment and having to depend on others. This increases the likelihood of any risk caused by a software failure if you the parent company are not the one in charge. Another con is the actual investment put into the creation of a software. Both capital and labor resources are needed and in most cases high quantity of both. Most software developers also come along with a lengthy paycheck. And lastly another con for MobiKash would be housing the servers instead of renting them from the company that sells them. Servers take space and need energy to run themselves. Although housing the servers can be debated as a pro or a con, it is without a doubt a con for an African company who is beginning to penetrate the African market.
The pros of using Sybase 365 are similar to the cons are they are the exact opposite. The approach of the ¨pros¨ side of thing will be to buy the software and or rent the usage of it. Most companies that are not in the technology sector decide to go with this approach because of the fact that their specialization is giving out the service not the software that enables the service. So the pros would be not investing in the software and coders, not housing the servers. MobiKash Benefits from this as they can focus more and allocate their resources on penetrating the market and marketing instead of creating the software.
Companies often face the problem of having to make a choice between using an available software or creating their own and while using an available software might seem easier there are a lot of aspects you need to take into consideration before making a decision; a small business might benefit more from an e-commerce available software because they don’t have to worry about making it and they probably don’t need complex functions that the software does not have, there are a lot of software that work very good with the needs of small or simple companies, therefore there is no reason why companies should bother to create a software that is already made and also verified.
In the contrary, companies that require a big amount or complex functions and data management would want to build and create their own software in order for it to meet their needs and expectations, small companies might not have the necessary resources to build a software accurate enough to fulfill one hundred percent of their need, but a big company can afford to create an almost perfect software for their own. Also companies that handle a lot of private customer information would want to be sure about the security and options their software has therefore they might not want to take the risk of using an outside available software.
Moving on from the software side of things and the implementation of technology for a while, MobiKash also faces other challenges. One of the first ones that come into mind Is the fact that penetrating different national markets especially in developing countries can prove to be a hard venture. From doing this many challenges may arise as to how actually do it, and MobiKash is showing quite some promise by making the right moves. As previously stated in its standards MobiKash believes that their service should be available to everyone with a mobile phone. You don’t even need a bank account to have a MobiKash account the only thing that you need is for somebody to send you money via MobiKash and you´re in.
When penetrating the market that is a whole other thing. Sure their standards enable their features to be available to almost everyone in Africa, but there are other things that must be taken into consideration. For one there are other competitors and there are other rules. Although most African countries share the same cultures, most do not share the same legal structure and economy system. Some countries might be a good idea to expand for MobiKash but other countries can be a risk for them, this are things that management will no doubt investigate. But a smart move that MobiKash did was to expand its service to Egypt though an agreement with Masary and Egyptian e-wallet firm. This is similar to the usage of another company software, instead of competing use an already existing service and or company and reinforce it with your own personal touch.
Kenya is also another great place to start a venture like this. Most African countries have the bad reputation of being a third world country where technology is almost nonexistent, but in fact they are not. Many global companies are moving their manufacturing operations to Kenya now a day. And MobiKash can take full advantage of this. Kenya is also located close to the middle east and south Africa, both places of wealth that see a lot of money going in and out.
Establishing the service provided by MobiKash might be very successful in Africa does not mean that it would be as reliable or as needed in other parts of the world. There are certain areas of countries that already have the facilities to control and make transactions without needing a MobiKash program. Developed countries have banks all over the place and platforms that makes it really easy to control and track your money. In our case, the difference of lifestyle that we have in compared to those areas in Africa allows us to have access to bank accounts, instant transactions, and pretty much control of your money from everywhere you are, also we have a different culture that helps us to understand more sophisticated technology software and be able to fully use all their functions. In our opinion a MobiKash program would not be needed in Santo Domingo, but in certain areas of the Dominican Republic where they don’t have the knowledge or for example smartphones, which they use to access their information, then a MobiKash would certainly help.
In conclusion MobiKash is a fine example of how a company is taking advantage of the management information systems provided to the world by the world. Right now we live in a technology centered society in which with technology we not only make our lives easier, but we also enjoy it as well.