Airtel launched mobile money under brand name Airtel Money in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Wednesday. The cellphone service provider has partnered with Ecobank in the nation’s new venture.
Airtel Money now becomes the first mobile money service in the country.
The service enables consumers to top up airtime on their cellphones in addition to sending and receiving money. They can as well pay their bills and access bank accounts. Subscribers can also settle their bills without having to carry cash.
Airtel Managing Director John Ndego said, “This day ushers in a new era in this nation as we introduce Airtel Money to offer easy access to banking services. First, we introduced Money Transfer to settle goods and services bills electronically and now you have Airtel Money.”
Ndego promised to roll out Airtel Money across all the regions the company covers. He further invited customers to make maximum use of the new service.
Ecobank director Cheikh Travaly said the firm wants to improve the living standards of people in Burkina Faso by electronic payment services.
He also encouraged people to embrace the new technology and praised Airtel for pioneering the scheme.
Subscribers will be required to register with their national identity cards (ID) or passport and complete a registration form.
The government officials led by the Minister for Transport and Economy and Finance among other dignitaries from private sectors attended the launch.
Apart from Burkina Faso, in Africa, the mobile money service is available in Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania.
Bharti Airtel is an Indian telecommunications firm that serves up to 20 countries globally in regions inlcuding South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands.
According to Bharti Airtel’s March 2012 report, the company is fifth largest telecom operator across the world with more than 243.336 million clients.
