Nairobi, April 14, 2021: Telkom Kenya will develop a youth-focused digital wallet to relieve them from financial exclusion during the pandemic.
The telco has signed an agreement with the Ministry of ICT’s National Youth Council of Kenya (NYCK) to co-create ‘Fursa’, (Swahili for opportunity) a platform that allows the council to disburse funds to youth conveniently, faster, securely and timely. This solution will increase the youth’s resilience in the midst of physical and infrastructural barriers that obstruct their access to financial services and products.
The Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya estimates that 23% of the 18-25 year-olds are excluded from financial services and products and that financial services providers have no solutions targeted at youth.
Fursa will be customised to contain additional capabilities: a membership management system, financial reconciliation, savings and investments, experience board for job matching and e-learning as well as experiential skill development.
Telkom’s Chief Executive Officer, Mugo KIBATI says that this collaboration is the first of many such Digital Financial Services partnerships that the company will be exploring, with the potential to accelerate the economy into cash-lite status.
“More can be done to advance the financial inclusion of our youth. Further digitisation and investment in the mobile money ecosystem will help solve a crisis that has been further exacerbated during the pandemic. The Fursa e-wallet helps to address this challenge,” said Mr. KIBATI.
According to the NYCK’s Chief Executive, Roy Sasaka TELEWA, the e-wallet will open up a portfolio of financial opportunities to the youth in Kenya and moreso at the grassroot levels. A strong financial services footprint is helpful especially to the youth to leverage in application for business opportunity and or demonstrate a working history.
“Far from development of joint programmes and incentivizing youth to take up technology and youth entrepreneurship, employment and engagement programs, Fursa is a huge opportunity to support the government’s nationwide efforts to provide a financial and safety net in the unraveling pandemic,” said Mr. TELEWA.
Under the partnership, Telkom will install the Fursa wallet and offer support with respect to its operationalisation, maintenance and updates. It will also provide professional and product support services, including infrastructure, care services, monitoring, performance and availability.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, digital financial services systems have been used to support social distancing efforts, aiding business continuity during movement restrictions that have been implemented in Kenya and across the world. Last year, The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) directed all banks and telcos to actively encourage the use of mobile payments. Telkom Kenya joined other telcos in eliminating charges on person-to-person transactions of less than KSh1,000 for an extended period, and also raised the transaction ceiling from KSh70,000 to KSh150,000.
Financial services, partnerships and digitisation form part of Telkom’s focus areas. In this strategic direction, Telkom seeks to enrich its financial services offering to reflect evolving customer demands while paying attention to the growing need for secure transactions.
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About Telkom
Telkom connects the people that keeps Kenya on the move. It does this by providing integrated telecommunications solutions to individuals, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Government and large corporates in Kenya, drawing from a diverse solutions suite that includes voice, data/connectivity, digital financial services, as well as network services. Powered by its vast fibre optic infrastructure, it is also a major provider of wholesale carrier-to-carrier traffic, within the country and the region.
These services are primarily offered through our Service Delivery Units: Digital (that offers: Data Centre Services, Cloud, Managed Services, Connectivity, Broadband, Carrier-to-Carrier traffic, and Backbone Infrastructure); Consumer (that offers: Data, Voice, VAS, and Content) and Digital Financial Services (through our platform T-kash).
Telkom is also building on strong, consumer-centric ethos and is committed to providing innovative, accessible and refreshingly simple communications solutions that suit customers’ everyday communication needs.
Established as a telecommunications operator in April 1999, Telkom is 60 per cent owned by Helios Investment Partners, with the remaining stake held by Kenyans through the Government of Kenya.
Telkom has 4,152 km of its own terrestrial fibre cabling, serving as a key conduit for broadband connectivity, inland. Telkom Kenya also owns a 22.5% stake in TEAMS, a 5,000km undersea fibre optic cable through Fujairah, UAE, and a 10% stake in LION2, another 2,700km undersea fibre optic cable through Mauritius. It also owns a stake in the East African Submarine System Cable (EASSy) and manages the National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI), on behalf of the Ministry of ICT, an inland fibre optic cable network running through Kenyan counties. Telkom is also the landing partner for the LION2, EASSy, and DARE 1 Cables.
Please visit www.telkom.co.ke to get to know more about Telkom.
About National Youth Council
National youth Council (the Council) is a state corporation in the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs which came into being through the enactment of the Council Act 2009 rev 2014 as the official voice of the Youth.
The mandate of the National Youth Council (NYC) is to harness and advocate for the Youth voice to inform government policy and legislation, and to regulate and coordinate Youth activities and initiatives, for Youth empowerment, inclusion and participation in all spheres of life.
The Council is a Youth engagement and empowerment platform, and provides an elaborate structure that facilitates representation, participation and inclusion of the Youth in governance, national affairs and ensures that Youth programmes involve them and are youth centered.
The National Youth Council is the only state agency that specifically advocates for representation and inclusivity of Youth in decision making bodies to ensure that the Youth voice is well listened to and represented countrywide.
The Council is the structured and formal voice for the Youth, and is the state agency responsible for coordination of non-state Youth actors, advocating for and promoting Youth issues, Youth-led initiatives and opportunities for Youth engagement and empowerment.
For clarification, please contact:
George MLAGHUI | gmlaghui@telkom.co.ke | Follow Telkom on Twitter: @TelkomKenya
Wairimu WAWERU | mwaweru@nationalyouthcouncil.go.ke | Follow NYC on Twitter: @NYC_YouthVoice