By Lamin Fatty
Qmoney, the mobile money service provider, has assured farmers that they will be able to resume cashing out their money from Tuesday after a brief delay caused by a reconciliation process.
Abdou Kadir Touray, Qmoney’s manager, confirmed that the disruption which had affected farmers in rural Gambia is now over.
The delay in cashing out had particularly impacted farmers who sold their groundnuts at government buying points on credit. With Ramadan commencing, many farmers had hoped for timely payments to meet their needs. However, due to a cash shortage at the Seccos, the payment process was delayed, and farmers were left waiting for over a month.
While some farmers eventually received payments through Qmoney, they faced further difficulties in accessing the funds.
Moro Jabbai, a farmer from Sutukoba in Wulli East, explained that while the cash supply to the buying points had arrived, it was insufficient to pay all farmers.
“Even those of us who received payments through Qmoney still couldn’t access the money,” Jabbai said.
Karamo Jabbai, another farmer, described his frustration after receiving a payment of over 100,000 dalasi through Qmoney, only to find he couldn’t cash out.
“When I went to AGIB bank in Basse to withdraw cash, they told me they had stopped processing Qmoney transactions. I then went to Herico financial services, but they too had stopped paying out Qmoney,” he said.
Touray addressed the issue, explaining that the interruption was due to a necessary reconciliation process.
“When we make payments over a period of time, we halt transactions for reconciliation, which temporarily suspends the ability to cash out,” he explained. “Now, the reconciliation is complete, and agents have traveled to Farafenni to pick up the cash. By Tuesday, farmers will be able to access their funds.”
Farmers can now look forward to resuming cashing out on Tuesday, as Qmoney restores full service.
