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Electronic government (e-government), the ability for government to provide access to services and information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, is an emerging force in Africa. As a result, government service will be revolutionized as Africa progresses into the Digital Age. In this new age, good government is accessible government. Good government correlates to immediate access to pertinent information. Good government is faster, cheaper and more efficient.

There are three key areas namely; service provision, digital democracy, and economic development, that represent a broad definition of e-government and affect all customers of local government, including interactions between government and citizen (G2C), government and business (G2B), government and other government agencies (G2G), and between government and its own employees (G2E). While many current efforts focus on G2C like e-water, the three remaining areas can provide tremendous payback for government. A definition of e-government is not complete unless it identifies and considers all of its customers

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Mobile banking, due to the inherent characteristics of mobile phone as a device, can contribute to each of each of the strategic drivers:

Increase market penetration. Due to their accessibility, mobile phones provide an invaluable pportunity to reach rural and remote areas, thus opening a new unexplored segment for MFIs. In countries, where mobile telecommunication networks are already established and used by mobile network operators for their main businesses, it makes more financial sense to offer financial services through these networks, rather than invest in the roll-out of the costly branches and ATMs.

Sell more services to existing customers. Mobile phone represents an effective channel to offer new products and services to existing customers. Customers need more than payments and money transfer; providers should develop products that fit their real needs and use mobile phone to market and deliver them to clients.

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