Social cash transfer payment reforms in Namibia: Adoption of mobile payments during and after Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant, although temporary, expansion of social protection across sub-Saharan Africa. Policy makers were quick to label this as a turning point in terms of social cash transfer (SCT) coverage, payment systems and digitization. However, there was significant country-level variation within Africa. This paper traces the development of Namibia’s SCT payment system from the pre-Covid period until 2024. The findings show that Covid-19 did not constitute a critical juncture for the long-term adoption of mobile SCT payments, due to concerns over the age and technological literacy of regular SCT recipients, as well as limited infrastructure. This mirrors similar developments across sub-Saharan Africa and indicates a high degree of path dependency in payment systems as much as in SCT design generally. Despite the existence of various permissive and conducive conditions, mobile SCT payments are therefore unlikely to be adopted in Namibia in the near future.