JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Zimbabwean mobile network operator Econet Wireless announced subscribers on its prepaid platform Buddie will soon be able to have their accounts recharged by relatives and friends living or working outside Zimbabwe.
The system, developed by Econet during the past two years, will be licensed to other operators around the world after it has been introduced in Zimbabwe.
Pascal Nderitu, Econet product development executive, said, “We have already started trials of the system, which allow Buddie subscribers with relatives or friends outside the country to recharge a phone in Zimbabwe or on any other Econet network from virtually any country in the world.”
Nderitu said that by using the Internet, anyone outside Zimbabwe would be able to recharge a subscriber’s account using only the person’s mobile number.
“Currently the system only accepts credit cards, however, Econet is also developing a recharge card that will be on sale in other countries. By introducing the system, Econet is planning to tap into the millions of Africans working overseas to pay for the Buddie services for their relatives,” added Nderitu.
Nderitu said the trials in Zimbabwe had gone well and that full service would begin within a matter of weeks.
A big market for this service is expected to be Nigeria, where an estimated 10 million people live and work in other countries, while Zimbabwe would be a secondary market with an estimated 2 million people living and working in neighboring South Africa.
