Orange Group and MTN Group have launched Mowali, a joint venture built to connect mobile money systems across Africa and make cross-network payments possible in real time at low cost.
The platform is intended to let customers move money between accounts issued by different mobile money providers, including MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. The companies said the service brings together more than 100 million mobile money accounts and operations in 22 of sub-Saharan Africa’s 46 markets.
Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO of Orange, said the project marks a major step toward making mobile money a universal payment method on the continent. He said digital technology remains central to improving financial inclusion and supporting economic development, especially in more remote communities.
Orange and MTN said Mowali is designed to work beyond their own operations and markets, with the broader goal of supporting the 338 million mobile money accounts already active in Africa. The companies said the system should help money move freely between operators and encourage wider use by consumers and merchants.
Rob Shuter, group president and CEO of MTN, said one of the company’s goals is to speed up the spread of mobile financial services in Africa. He said partnerships such as Mowali can help address the scale, scope and complexity of the challenges facing society.
The GSMA backed the initiative, saying interoperability at this scale can accelerate financial inclusion and improve the usefulness of mobile money across Africa. Mats Granryd, the group’s director general, said mobile money has become an essential tool on the continent, giving people access not only to financial services but also to energy, health, education and employment opportunities.
Kosta Peric, deputy director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said interoperability has been one of the hardest problems in financial services. He said Mowali gives Orange and MTN a way to scale digital financial services faster and to reach everyone, including poor communities. Peric also said the project is an implementation of Mojaloop, an open source payment platform available to operators across the sector.
The companies said the platform is meant to unlock further innovation in digital financial services across the continent.
