Senegal Digital Reforms: Lessons for Ghana SMEs

Senegal has 97% 4G population coverage and yet 54% of people who live under coverage don’t use mobile internet. That single gap—coverage vs. actual usage—is the part many business owners underestimate. Networks can exist, but if data is pricey, smartphones are taxed, and digital skills are thin, the internet stays “available” on paper while businesses still run on paper in real life.

A new GSMA report released in early December 2025 estimates that targeted digital reforms could bring 2.6 million more people online in Senegal by 2030, lifting adoption to 61% of the population, while adding FCFA 1,100 billion in economic value and 280,000 jobs. I’m not sharing this because Ghana should copy Senegal line-by-line. I’m sharing it because the logic travels well across West Africa—especially if you care about Ghanaian SMEs trying to grow sales, manage cashflow, and keep up with competition.

This post is part of our “AI ne Fintech: Sɛnea Akɔntabuo ne Mobile Money Rehyɛ Ghana den” series, so we’ll keep the focus practical: what Senegal’s findings imply for mobile money, digital payments, AI for SMEs, and the day-to-day operations of small businesses in Ghana.

The big signal from Senegal: “Usage gap” is the real bottleneck

The most useful idea in the GSMA report isn’t the headline number (2.6 million). It’s the diagnosis: infrastructure alone doesn’t create digital participation.

Senegal has built broad coverage and even meaningful 5G reach (39% 5G population coverage). Still, a majority remain offline despite coverage. That’s a warning sign for any country—and a business lesson for SMEs:

• If your customers can pay via mobile money but don’t, your issue isn’t “awareness” only. It’s friction: fees, trust, phone capability, or user confidence.
• If you’ve set up WhatsApp ordering but customers still prefer phone calls, the issue is not the app. It’s habit, literacy, and perceived risk.

What creates the usage gap (and why SMEs feel it first)

The report points to three drivers that hit small businesses hard:

1. Affordability (devices and data)
2. Digital skills (confidence, not just “knowing how to use a phone”)
3. Policy and regulatory barriers (costly taxes, slow permissions, uneven rules)

For Ghanaian SMEs, the usage gap shows up as:

• Customers who have MoMo but avoid it for larger payments.
• Staff who can use TikTok personally but can’t manage a digital inventory sheet.
• Businesses that want to sell online but can’t maintain reliable connectivity or power.

The reality? Fintech and AI only scale when basic digital access is both affordable and trusted.

Five reforms in Senegal—and the Ghana SME translation

The GSMA report lists five priority reform areas. Here’s how each one maps to Ghanaian SME reality and the AI/fintech angle.

1) Affordability: lower the “cost of being digital”

Direct point from the report: removing taxes on entry-level smartphones, reducing data-related levies, and expanding digital skills programmes would lower barriers.

Why I’m opinionated about this: SMEs don’t fail at digital because they hate technology. They fail because digital tools come with hidden costs—data, devices, training time, and occasional fraud.

What affordability means for Ghana SMEs

When affordability improves, SMEs get three wins quickly:

• More customers reachable on mobile internet (ads, WhatsApp catalogs, mobile web storefronts)
• More MoMo-active customers (more consistent digital payments)
• More staff capable of using business apps (POS, simple accounting, inventory)

The AI link (practical, not hype)

AI tools only help if SMEs can actually use them daily. With affordable access, an SME can run:

• AI-assisted customer replies (product questions, opening hours, delivery updates)
• AI summaries of sales chats (top requested products, common complaints)
• AI bookkeeping categorization (turning MoMo statements into simple accounts)

If data is expensive, these benefits stay theoretical.

2) Infrastructure investment: make coverage reliable, not just available

Direct point from the report: predictable investment conditions—streamlined rights-of-way, clearer/lower spectrum prices, longer license durations (minimum 20 years)—improve coverage and service quality.

SMEs don’t care about spectrum policy. They care about the two things spectrum policy affects:

• Network reliability during business hours
• Data speed consistency for payments, uploads, and customer support

Ghana SME translation

If you run a shop that relies on MoMo confirmations, reliability is revenue. A flaky network creates:

• payment delays and customer disputes
• abandoned purchases
• staff time wasted troubleshooting

A simple but true line: Every failed payment session is a tax on small business productivity.

3) Energy–telecom alignment: power is a fintech issue

Direct point from the report: improving power supply to digital infrastructure, especially rural, improves network reliability.

Most people treat power as a separate “utility problem.” For SMEs, power stability is directly tied to:

• mobile money uptime
• device charging (customers and staff)
• ability to run POS devices, routers, and phones

Where AI fits

AI is not only “chatbots.” In operations, it’s pattern detection and automation. But automation depends on uptime.

If you’re a micro-merchant using mobile money and a simple app for stock tracking, power instability can reset your day. Reliable power turns tech from “sometimes helpful” into a consistent business system.

4) Modern regulation: trust and parity matter

Direct point from the report: modernising licensing frameworks, ensuring parity among service providers, supporting emerging tech, and improving governance structures.

For SMEs in Ghana, modern regulation means two outcomes:

• More competition and better services (lower fees, better merchant tools)
• More trust (clear consumer protection, fraud response, dispute resolution)

Why this matters for mobile money and fintech

Mobile money growth depends on trust. When customers hear frequent fraud stories and don’t see fast resolution, they revert to cash.

SMEs then get stuck:

• cash handling risks
• difficulty tracking sales
• challenges accessing formal credit

AI can help here too—particularly in fraud detection and transaction monitoring—but only when providers and regulators enable the right safeguards and clear rules.

5) Digital public services: adoption grows when digital is useful

Direct point from the report: scaling e-government, digital payments, and digital health strengthens uptake by making digital tools relevant.

This is underrated. People don’t adopt digital because it’s “modern.” They adopt it because it solves real problems.

The SME link

When governments and utilities accept digital payments, and when business services become digitised, SMEs benefit from:

• faster registrations and renewals
• lower compliance costs
• easier record-keeping
• more formal transaction histories (which support credit access)

And once digital becomes normal for official services, customers also become more comfortable paying merchants digitally.

What 2.6 million new users really means for SMEs

The GSMA report projects by 2030 Senegal could:

• connect 2.6 million new users
• create 280,000 new jobs
• generate FCFA 1,100 billion in value
• increase national revenue by FCFA 417 billion

Those numbers are macro. Here’s the micro meaning—what changes at the SME counter, salon, workshop, or small warehouse.

1) More reachable customers, not just more “internet users”

Each new internet user is a potential customer who can:

• view products on WhatsApp or social media
• compare prices quickly
• order without travelling
• pay before delivery

For Ghanaian SMEs, this reinforces a key strategy: build your “mobile storefront” even if you don’t have a website. A clean WhatsApp catalog, consistent pricing, and fast payment confirmation can outperform a fancy site.

2) Better payment data = better decisions

Once more transactions flow through mobile money and digital payments, SMEs get data that can power:

• basic cashflow forecasting
• inventory planning
• staff scheduling
• targeted promotions

This is where AI becomes practical: AI can turn messy transaction histories into categories and trends, even for owners who don’t love spreadsheets.

3) Inclusion gains are business gains

The report expects the biggest gains among women, young people, and rural communities.

If your SME sells FMCG, fashion, agro-inputs, services, or digital products, these groups are not “charity targets.” They’re growth segments.

Businesses that learn how to communicate clearly (local languages included), price transparently, and build trust in mobile money payments will win those customers.

A Ghana SME action plan (you can start this week)

Policy reforms take time. SMEs still have to run today. Here are moves that work even before the big national shifts.

1) Treat mobile money like your accounting entry point

Don’t wait until end of month.

• Create a daily routine: reconcile MoMo inflows/outflows and cash sales
• Separate business and personal wallets (even if you’re a sole proprietor)
• Save receipts as photos in a dated folder

If you already have transaction histories, you’re closer than you think to AI-assisted bookkeeping.

2) Reduce payment friction for customers

Most SMEs lose sales at the payment moment.

• Display MoMo numbers clearly
• Confirm payments fast (assign one staff member per shift)
• Offer two options: MoMo + cash (but encourage MoMo with small incentives where feasible)

3) Use AI where it saves time immediately

Pick one workflow, not ten.

Good starting points:

• customer message templates + AI drafting for replies
• summarising daily WhatsApp orders into a simple list
• categorising expenses from MoMo statements into “stock, transport, utilities, payroll”

4) Build digital skills inside the business

Skills aren’t a one-off training. They’re habits.

• 15 minutes weekly: one new task (export statement, tag customers, update price list)
• Document steps in a note (so it’s not “only Kofi who knows”)

What this means for the AI + fintech story in Ghana

Senegal’s report is a reminder that digital transformation is mostly about removing friction—not pushing buzzwords.

For Ghana, the opportunity is clear: when connectivity, affordability, trust, and digital public services improve, mobile money becomes a stronger business rail, and AI becomes a practical assistant for accounting, customer service, and decision-making.

If you’re running an SME, the smart stance is to prepare for that future now: clean up your transaction records, standardise your payment process, and adopt one AI-supported workflow that saves time every week. The businesses that do this won’t just “use tech.” They’ll build operating systems that scale.

Where do you feel the biggest friction today—payments, record-keeping, or customer follow-ups—and what would it be worth to remove that friction before your competitors do?