Mobile Money

❧

Wikipedia

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

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
XOF BeninCFA franc
BWP BotswanaBotswana pula
XOF Burkina FasoCFA franc
BIF BurundiBurundi franc
XAF CameroonCFA franc
XAF ChadCFA franc
CDF Democratic Republic of the CongoCongolese franc
EGP EgyptEgyptian pound
ETB EthiopiaEthiopian birr
XAF GabonCFA franc
GHS GhanaGhanaian cedi
GNF GuineaGuinean franc
XOF Guinea-BissauCFA franc
XOF Ivory CoastCFA franc
KES KenyaKenyan shilling
LSL LesothoLesotho loti
LRD LiberiaLiberian dollar
MGA MadagascarMalagasy ariary
MWK MalawiMalawian kwacha
XOF MaliCFA franc
MRO MauritaniaMauritanian ouguiya
MUR MauritiusMauritian rupee
MAD MoroccoMoroccan dirham
MZN MozambiqueMozambican metical
NAD NamibiaNamibian dollar
XOF NigerCFA franc
NGN NigeriaNigerian naira
RWF RwandaRwandan franc
XOF SenegalCFA franc
SLL Sierra LeoneSierra Leonean leone
SOS Somaliashilling
ZAR South AfricaSouth African rand
SDG SudanSudanese pound
SZL SwazilandSwazi lilangeni
TZS TanzaniaTanzanian shilling
XOF TogoCFA franc
TND TunisiaTunisian dinar
UGX UgandaUgandan shilling
ZMW ZambiaZambian kwacha
ZWD ZimbabweZimbabwean 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.