Initially, Monitise East Africa will offer services in Uganda and then expand into neighbouring countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. The company will offer banking, payment and money transfer services to both banks and mobile networks, within the regulatory framework of each market. Users in East Africa will have the opportunity to use their mobile phones to save money, make payments, transfer funds, and deposit and withdraw cash.
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) is a USD 50-100 million private sector fund, backed by some of the major development finance companies and hosted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Monitise’s announcement comes soon after the recent launch of a UK government project which is set to support SMS-based m-banking services in developing countries. Backed by the UKs Department for International Development (DFID), the three-year project is called Facilitating Access to Financial Services through Technology (FAST) and it is worth GBP 1.4 million. FAST will collaborate with other development partners, such as the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and German Technical Cooperation (Gtz) as well as the private sector.
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