Mobile Money

Last updated
African MobileMoney
Operating areaAfrica

Mobile Money is a mobile payments system based on accounts held by a mobile operator and accessible from subscribers' mobile phones. The conversion of cash into electronic value (and vice versa) happens at retail stores (or agents). All transactions are authorised and recorded in real-time using SMS. in the year 2007, M-PESA was launched. [1]

MTN Mobile Money agent's stand in Ghana MTN MoMo stand, Korle-Klottey (P1090857).jpg
MTN Mobile Money agent's stand in Ghana

In 2008, a Ugandan software developer named Ronald Egesa of Mobitrix Uganda Ltd was reported by the leading newspapers to have developed the country's first mobile phone bank that he called SmartCash [2] It was reported to be a network independent service.

In 2009, GSMA made a grant to Safaricom to support the development of a social transfer payment project via M-Pesa. [3]

M-PESA was developed by Vodafone and first deployed by its Kenyan affiliate Safaricom. In May 2012, there were over 15 million customers of M-PESA in Kenya. [4]

Countries with a Mobile Money Presence

Current Mobile Money Presence in African Countries [5]
Currency ISOCountryCurrency
XOFFlag of Benin.svg Benin CFA franc
BWPFlag of Botswana.svg Botswana Botswana pula
XOFFlag of Burkina Faso.svg Burkina Faso CFA franc
BIFFlag of Burundi.svg Burundi Burundi franc
XAFFlag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon CFA franc
XAFFlag of Chad.svg Chad CFA franc
CDFFlag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Democratic Republic of the Congo Congolese franc
EGPFlag of Egypt.svg Egypt Egyptian pound
ETBFlag of Ethiopia.svg Ethiopia Ethiopian birr
XAFFlag of Gabon.svg Gabon CFA franc
GHSFlag of Ghana.svg Ghana Ghanaian cedi
GNFFlag of Guinea.svg Guinea Guinean franc
XOFFlag of Guinea-Bissau.svg Guinea-Bissau CFA franc
XOFFlag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Ivory Coast CFA franc
KESFlag of Kenya.svg Kenya Kenyan shilling
LSLFlag of Lesotho.svg Lesotho Lesotho loti
LRDFlag of Liberia.svg Liberia Liberian dollar
MGAFlag of Madagascar.svg Madagascar Malagasy ariary
MWKFlag of Malawi.svg Malawi Malawian kwacha
XOFFlag of Mali.svg Mali CFA franc
MROFlag of Mauritania.svg Mauritania Mauritanian ouguiya
MURFlag of Mauritius.svg Mauritius Mauritian rupee
MADFlag of Morocco.svg Morocco Moroccan dirham
MZNFlag of Mozambique.svg Mozambique Mozambican metical
NADFlag of Namibia.svg Namibia Namibian dollar
XOFFlag of Niger.svg Niger CFA franc
NGNFlag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria Nigerian naira
RWFFlag of Rwanda.svg Rwanda Rwandan franc
XOFFlag of Senegal.svg Senegal CFA franc
SLLFlag of Sierra Leone.svg Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean leone
SOSFlag of Somalia.svg Somalia shilling
ZARFlag of South Africa.svg South Africa South African rand
SDGFlag of Sudan.svg Sudan Sudanese pound
SZLFlag of Eswatini.svg Swaziland Swazi lilangeni
TZSFlag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania Tanzanian shilling
XOFFlag of Togo (3-2).svg Togo CFA franc
TNDFlag of Tunisia.svg Tunisia Tunisian dinar
UGXFlag of Uganda.svg Uganda Ugandan shilling
ZMWFlag of Zambia.svg Zambia Zambian kwacha
ZWDFlag of Zimbabwe.svg Zimbabwe Zimbabwean dollar

References

  1. ↑ Njuguna, S. Ndung’u. "A Digital Financial Services Revolution in Kenya: The M-Pesa Case Study" (PDF).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ SmartCash "SmartCash".
  3. ↑ M-PESA "M-Pesa". 18 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "M-Pesa celebrates reaching 50 million customers". Vodafone.com. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  5. ↑ "Mobile Money". GSMA. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
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