Power in the Java House coffee shop has just gone off again. It’s the third time the Sarit Center shopping complex has gone dark in the last hour. Its been raining heavily in Nairobi, snarling the traffic and apparently wreaking havoc on the power grid.

My colleague Toru Mino (MIB ’10) and I have been in Kenya for the last several days, finishing the organization of M-Banking 2009, a conference focused on mobile banking. Mobile banking, or m-banking for the truly hip, encompasses a range of different financial actions an individual can undertake utilizing his/her mobile phone. Some elements of m-banking are relatively straightforward, such as checking a bank account, transferring funds between existent accounts, or making stock trades. Other elements are slightly more arcane, such as the storage and transferal of money via mobile phone by unbanked individuals (those who otherwise do not, or cannot, have a bank account). These types of services, termed m-money or mobile money transfers, offer great possibilities in poverty alleviation and ground up economic development.

I spent an hour the other day (locked in traffic) talking to my cab driver Bartholomew about how he utilized m-pesa, a Kenyan m-money service. He noted that prior to m-pesa, he remitted money to his family in the rift valley through long-haul bus drivers; a system, he indicated, that was not always successful. Bartholomew noted that m-pesa has taken the uncertainty out of sending money, making his remittance transfers more frequent and larger in amount. Bartholomew’s sentiments are widely shared. Since its introduction in 2007, m-pesa has garnered six million users; roughly double the cumulative number of bank accounts held in Kenya.

The success of m-pesa has prompted questions and concerns from banks and government regulators. Banks have questioned the ability of m-pesa’s operator, Safaricom, to maintain appropriate cash reserves and to ensure that anti-money laundering regulations are followed. The government in turn has had a difficult time classifying what exactly m-pesa is (telecommunications or financial function) and which government ministry has authority over it. M-money systems are becoming increasingly common throughout the world. This presents a real opportunity for development and the provision of financial services to the “unbanked”, but also increases the salience of just the types of concerns and questions Kenya is now struggling with.

The organizers, all Fletcher students, of the M-Banking 2009 conference envisioned and designed it as an opportunity to discuss the current state of the m-Banking industry, address questions of concern, and identify future opportunities for all parties involved. With support from the Center for Emerging Market Enterprises, and in partnership with Kenyan School of Monetary Studies we’ve managed to draw together over 50 speakers representing key business actors, government, academics and non-governmental organizations. Its been an amazing experience to watch the conference come together, though quite time intensive. The conference goes live in just over a week. I’ll continue to blog through the event.

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Congratulations, you did it, Fletcher: my brain is officially full.

After wrapping up over April with my language requirement, my thesis, a final paper, an article translation and a final exam, my Fletcher career has come down to…. econometrics.  I’m scared.

It’d be nice if “self-scheduled” meant I could take my exam at 5:30pm on a Sunday, because I’ve officially learned everything I’m ever going to know, and there’s a very good chance I’ll start unlearning things really, really soon.

So, instead of reviewing heteroskedasticity again, I am posting for the first time since September and listening to Iron Butterfly (probably for the first time since LONG before September).

It’s nice to watch my calendar filling up with social activities that don’t include the phrase “study group” (of course, I will miss my excellent study group, and am looking forward to our last meeting).  However, I guess it means I really belonged at Fletcher if the books I’m hoping to read this summer are on the same topics as I’ve been studying since getting here.

This summer, one two weeks after graduation, I’ll be heading to Alexandria, Egypt, for another round of Arabic studies (just like last summer).  And, just like last summer, if anything worthwhile happens maybe I’ll contribute a little more to Reflections.

It’ll certainly be more interesting than this…

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