Ethiopia’s decision to exclude mobile money from the terms of two new telecommunications licences cost the government about US$500-million (R7-billion) from bid levels, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said. The block imposed to allow the country to build its own expertise in phone-based financial technology will be lifted after about a year, Abiy said at the launch...
Ethio Telecom has taken a further step into the fintech market by launching its first mobile payment service today. The new service, Tele Birr, is a community-friendly and comprehensive mobile money transfer and trading system that aimed to boost financial service inclusion in the country. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, regional heads of state, and senior...
Safaricom has introduced a new M-PESA app feature that allows users to send money to up to five people at the same time. According to Gadgets Africa, a big reason why the telco may have introduced this feature is to make it easier for companies to pay employees via the app. “Most times you’d have to...
Ethio Telecom, the – for now – monopoly telecommunications provider in Ethiopia, has announced the roll-out of a mobile money service. Called TeleBirr, it will be available to Ethio Telecom subscribers from May this year. Although the government is planning to allow two new operators to compete with Ethio Telecom, they won’t be permitted to...
Somalia’s largest telecommunications provider, Hormuud Telecom, has announced the rollout of the country’s first indigenous mobile money application. According to a media statement, the Fintech app WAAFI gives Somalis access to a range of digital services across a singular platform for the first time. Consumers can access bank accounts, perform online transactions, send international remittances...
When launching in a matter of weeks, Ethio Telecom’s clients will have the ease of making electronic payments from their mobile devices with Telebirr Ethiopia’s giant state-owned telecom service provider, Ethio Telecom, is launching a new mobile money service in the country. It is expected to be starting in the matter of weeks, according to...
MTN Group is valuing its mobile money arm at R75-billion, joining African wireless carriers planning to list these businesses in a region that has more mobile money accounts than anywhere else in the world. MTN’s valuation of its unit follows Mastercard and TPG Holdings investing US$300-million in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at a $2.65-billion (R39-billion)...
State-run mobile telecommunications firm, NetOne says last year’s strategic expansion into outback markets resulted in 500 000 additional subscribers of the company’s mobile money platform OneMoney. NetOne is the only mobile network operator to have increased market share during the year ended 31 December 2020, according to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe...
Safaricom’s M-Pesa Africa has appointed Sitoyo Lopokoiyit as its new Managing Director. He is a “mobile financial services expert who has directly managed mobile money in two of the largest markets in the world – Kenya and Tanzania,” reveals MyBroadBand. Lopokoiyit joined Safaricom in 2011 as head of M-Pesa strategy and business development. He then went...
MTN Nigeria resumed airtime sales on banking channels Sunday after banks lifted a ban on the telecommunications operator following an intervention by the government. Nigerian banks on Friday barred the Johannesburg-based firm from using their USSD platform to conduct business as both sides scuffled over airtime sales fees. The three-day-long feud started after MTN, which has...
