Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, VP, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson highlights Ericsson’s role in enabling social inclusion with Ericsson Mobile Financial Services
One of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is social and financial inclusion. 2.5 billion people globally are considered unbanked. However, a new World Bank report reveals that since 2011-14 this figure has been reduced by a third to 750 million people who now have access to mobile banking commerce.
Elaine talks about Ericsson’s technical solutions and platform which in Rwanda along with MTN has created a mobile commerce system enabling parents to pay their children’s school fees with mobiles. Ericsson has also enabled better humanitarian response. The World Food Program uses mobile commerce platform to provide access to different goods and services.
Elaine believes having mobile allows people to access many more services. It provides an identity and enables access to credit and payments which in turn changes the way we access other services. People are able to take decisions and ownership in improving their lives economically.
Overall mobile is now the most powerful tool in enabling sustainable development globally.