NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

African telecom companies offering mobile money services are more inclined to regional interoperability than national cross network money transfers and other transactions as they continue to seek a share of the regional remittance market dominated by banks and money transfer agencies.

Although mobile money interoperability inside most African markets is staggered, mobile money platforms in East, West and Central Africa have opened up cross border mobile money transfers.

Zimbabwe’s EcoCash allows for remittances from South Africa, although the government is advocating mobile money interoperability and has given operators until 1 April 1 to fix this or risk government intervention.

According to a report by Mondato, International Remittance Hubs: Interoperability Evolving, mobile money operators in the region still view interoperability as a competitive advantage inside their home markets.

Photo courtesy of Neil Palmer.