Airtel Money now has one million revenue-earning customers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a market with the largest mobile-money potential outside Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Bharti Airtel, the global telecommunications provider that runs the mobile money service, announced the landmark achievement at a media briefing with the DRC telecommunications minister and Central Bank governor today.
The development has seen DRC has emerged as the only market in Africa – outside of the East African Community region and Zimbabwe – where mobile money has achieved scale. Airtel DRC has partnered with existing financial institutions in the country to expand the availability of mobile money, the benefits of which are being felt by SMEs.
“The importance of a safe, secure and convenient financial channel cannot be overstated in sub-Saharan Africa, where companies like Airtel are investing to ensure that the right infrastructure is in place so economies can fully maximize existing and potential opportunities,” said Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria.
“As we celebrate this achievement, DRC remains one of the markets where mobile money is making a socio-economic impact, pioneering services such as civil service salary payments in partnership with the government,” added Alain Kahasha, managing director for Airtel DRC.
Airtel Money allows customers to transfer money between one mobile phone to the other across all networks, top up mobile phone with airtime or data or another customer’s mobile phone, removing the need for a bank account to access financial services.
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