The high expectations for mobile money’s potential to positively impact the livelihoods of both women and men trapped in poverty is not adequately backed by evidence on rural women traders' understanding, uses, and challenges. In this study we interviewed 100 rural women traders and conducted nine focus groups in the Kasena Nankana Municipal Assembly to examine their locally self-sustaining ecosystem and perceptions about mobile phones and money systems for extending and/or enhancing their livelihoods. Preliminary results showed that 90% of the traders rely on home savings, though about 80% indicated that if they had excess funds then they would save with banks. About 77% of traders used mobile phones for a period of one to five years whilst 74% used the MTN mobile network. The reported challenge of rural women traders in mobile phone usage is poor network connectivity. In all, 82% of the respondents have no idea about mobile money and its perceived risk, and 81% of them reported they don’t use a barter system in their trading. The conclusion is that mobile money is still alien to rural women traders in the region that we studied. Given the high mobile phone usage among rural women traders, there is potential for mobile money usage when the design is inclusive of and responsive to the saving needs of poor and marginalized rural populations.

Mobile technology has gained prominence in the development agenda of the government of Ghana. This is because mobile technology has the potential to reduce poverty by providing access to financial services like savings and money transfer to users. This research employs a participatory approach to examine local self-sustaining eco-systems, cognition, and perceptions about mobile money systems as a means of enhancing livelihoods in Ghana. The study was carried out among one hundred rural women traders, randomly selected and interviewed from the Kasena Nankana Municipality in the Upper East region of Ghana. The study results showed that 90% of the traders interviewed rely on home savings for both trade transactions and household sustenance. About 77% of the traders interviewed use mobile phones and have done so for a period between 1-5 years. The MTN mobile network (the local mobile service provider) was reported as the most commonly used communication network. Poor network connectivity remains the biggest challenge to traders, and 82% still have no idea about mobile money or its perceived risks. Almost 81% of the traders reported that they do not use a barter system in their trading. Mobile money systems are still largely unknown among rural women traders. This may be attributed to the fact that rural areas lack the necessary communication infrastructure to support efficient money transfer. Only 2% of the respondents use mobile money and their use is only limited to sending money to their wards in schools as well as receiving assistance from relatives but not for trade.