MTN Rwanda’s mobile money services were restored at 9:30 a.m. on January 15, after being down since the evening of January 14. The disruption left customers frustrated and businesses grappling with losses.
A source within Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd. revealed that the maintenance, initially planned to be brief, was delayed due to technical issues. The maintenance was part of preparations to introduce new services to the mobile money platform, which are expected to launch next week. The source assured that there would be no further interruptions at that time.
The outage affected many users, leaving them unable to complete essential tasks. Clementine Uwase, a 36-year-old resident of Kimironko, said she was unable to purchase breakfast before work. “I was planning to buy breakfast using mobile money, but when the service went down, I couldn’t make any payments. I had no cash on me, so I had to go the entire morning without eating,” she said. The interruption made her reconsider how dependent she is on mobile money for even the smallest purchases.
Emmanuel Mugabo, a 29-year-old bank cashier in Nyarugenge District, also felt the effects when he couldn’t pay for his taxi moto ride to work. “I didn’t have cash to pay, and when I realized mobile money wasn’t working, I thought I was stuck,” he explained. Thankfully, his driver was aware of the issue and told him before they began the ride. Mugabo ended up walking nearly an hour to his workplace, arriving late and frustrated.
Both Uwase and Mugabo had expected the service to be back online by 6 a.m., but the unexpected delay further disrupted their mornings. “It was really inconvenient,” Mugabo said. “We need better communication and quicker resolutions for these types of issues.”
MTN Rwanda, which holds nearly 80% of the mobile money market share, has seen a significant increase in mobile money subscriptions. By mid-2024, active mobile money subscriptions had risen by 19.6%, reaching 7.6 million users compared to 6.3 million in June 2023.
Jean-Paul Musugi, Head of Commercial at MoMo Rwanda Ltd, said the maintenance was necessary for a major system upgrade. “This was not just routine maintenance; it was a significant upgrade designed to enhance the quality of our services and introduce advanced solutions that will benefit our customers,” he said.
Attempts to gather further information on whether regulatory action would be taken regarding the outage were unsuccessful.