Breakfast #43: Mobile Money: How Cell Phone Payments Will Transform the Zambian Agricultural Value Chain: MicroLinks- Microenterprise Learning Information and Knowledge Sharing (4.1.3 )

Breakfast #43: Mobile Money: How Cell Phone Payments Will Transform the Zambian Agricultural Value Chain
Microenterprise Development Breakfast Seminar Series

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September 17, 2009. Agnes Dasewicz ^[1] and Sam Reid ^[2] of Grassroots Business Fund (GBF) presented “Mobile Money: How Cell Phone Payments Could Transform the Zambian Agricultural Value Chain.” The seminar was the 43rd installment of the Linking Small Firms to Competitiveness Strategies Breakfast Seminar Series sponsored by the USAID Microenterprise Development office. To open the presentation, the presenters gave an overview of the work that GBF does in Zambia. Mr. Reid explaineded that the origins of Mobile Transactions (MTZL) origins can be traced to MPESA, a mobile phone-based money transfer service in Kenya; and he provided an idea of some of the many organizations with which MTZL works in the field. There are 3 value chain challenges facing Zambians: 1) a high percentage of citizens are "unbanked" (they have no bank accounts), 2) inefficient input distribution, and 3) limited access to market pricing. Mr. Reid then went into deeper detail about each of these challenges and closed the presentation by discussing the achievements that MTZL has made to date and outlining the potential future impact that GBF could have in mobile banking in Zambia.

^[1] Agnes Dasewicz is GBF’s chief operating officer and was in charge of the restructuring from GBI to GBF. Agnes has almost fifteen years of experience investing in businesses, including SMEs and social enterprises, in developing and transitioning economies. Prior to helping establish GBF, Agnes managed GBI’s project portfolio at IFC, which consisted of over fifty global and local organizations offering integrated capacity building and appropriate capital to disadvantaged entrepreneurs in ten developing countries. Before joining IFC, Agnes worked with the Institute for SME Finance and focused on the development of SME risk capital funds in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to her work in the development field, Agnes financed projects ranging from regional telecom companies to leading retail chains, and as an investment officer for one of the top private equity funds in Eastern Europe. She holds a B.A. in international affairs from The George Washington University, and an M.B.A. from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Agnes enjoys traveling and so far has visited 48 countries worldwide.

^[2] As the Asia portfolio manager, Sam is responsible for working with GBF investment officers to develop and execute GBF’s strategy for finding, evaluating, funding, and scaling grassroots business organizations in India and South-East Asia. He also works with GBF’s senior management team to develop the investment selection and management processes while continuing to engage GBF’s next generation of investment leaders.

Originally from Ukiah, California, Sam studied construction, engineering, and business at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and later, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and organizational behavior at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Prior to working at GBF, Sam specialized in operational transformation and human capital at McKinsey & Company and Deloitte Consulting.

Before entering the world of social impact investing, Sam spent two years traveling and volunteering his way through 29 countries and five years building over $50 million worth of semiconductor and biotech projects in California and Oregon. In his free time, Sam volunteers with Hands on Disaster Response, mentors emerging social entrepreneurs, and enjoys beach volleyball, snowboarding, surfing, running, mountain biking, and making unique memories with family and friends.

Author/Presenter
Agnes Dasewicz & Sam Reid

Presentation File
Seminar #43 Presentation.pdf 506.3 KB

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