Vodafone and MTN, two of the largest mobile money providers in Africa, announced plans to interconnect their services in seven East African countries. The partnership will allow M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money customers to transfer money to each other using their mobile devices in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
“Our agreement with MTN to connect our mobile money wallets in East Africa is a fantastic example of cooperation and interoperability between competing mobile operators,” said Michael Joseph, Vodafone’s director of mobile money.
Sub-Saharan Africa leads the world in use of mobile money. According to the GSMA, more than half the mobile money services aimed at unbanked populations are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 130 live services in 38 markets as of last September.
About 20% of families in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to bank accounts. With such untapped need for financial services, many providers, including banks and even credit card companies, are jumping into the market. In Kenya, Equity Bank is battling Safaricom, which is partially owned by Vodafone, to launch a “Thin Sim” that can be used with Safaricom’s mobile phones. In Nigeria, MasterCard launched a program last summer that placed a chip on national ID cards, allowing Nigerians to use the card to make electronic payments.
Still no mobile money or e-payment services have reached the popularity of Vodafone’s M-Pesa, which launched in 2007 in Kenya and now boasts 19.5 million active customers in nine markets — six of which are in Africa. While mobile money use has grown rapidly in Africa, few providers were cooperating to allow their customers to interact with users of other services – until now.
More telecom news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa:
• Liberty Global to buy BASE in Belgium for $1.43 billion. Telenet Group Holding NV, which is majority owned by London-based Liberty Global, announced it has agreed to buy BASE, Royal KPN’s Belgian mobile unit for $1.43 billion. Liberty Global owns cable and phone operations across Europe. According to Bloomberg, this deal will mark the first time the company, chaired by American billionaire John Malone, has managed to buy a wireless network in Europe.
• European regulators approve Altice’s purchase of PT assets. The European Commission gave the green light to Altice’s plan to buy PT assets from the Brazilian operator Oi in a deal worth $7.96 billion, Reuters reported. To close the deal, Altice has offered to sell two of its subsidiaries in Portugal: Cabovisao, which provides residential pay-TV, Internet and fixed-line services; and ONI, which provides business telecom services. Reports surfaced that Vodafone Group is interested in buying Cabovisao, which is worth $322.8 million. Sources told Bloomberg that there is more than one bidder and talks may continue for several months.
• Report: Europe is preparing to take on OTT troubles. As part of its strategy for a “digital single market,” the European Commission will look to create a level playing field between telcos and over-the-top players like What’s App and Skype, according to a draft document seen by Reuters.
“It is necessary to design a fair and future-proof regulatory environment for all services,” the document says.
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