(Ecofin Agency) - Africell started testing its mobile money platform in Angola in October 2022. The operator is already operating the service in its other African markets: The Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Sierra Leone. 

Telecom operator Africell Angola announced, Friday, the commercial launch of its mobile money operations in Angola. With this launch, its Angolan subscribers will be able to use the platform for mobile top-ups, deposits, person-to-person money transfers, bill payments, and merchant payments.

The commercial launch comes just a year after Africell began commercial operations in the Angolan telecom market. In October 2022, the company received approval from the National Bank of Angola (BNA) to provide mobile financial services in the country. It immediately launched a six-month pilot phase to improve the technical aspects of the platform and facilitate its compliance with market regulations.  

With the launch of Afrimoney, Africell Angola is entering a strategic front in the competitive war it has been waging (since 2022) against other operators in the market, notably Unitel and Movicel. In the mobile payment segment, Africell will primarily face Unitel’s Money service. Launched in August 2021, the Money Service had around 1.5 million subscribers in January this year, according to figures disclosed by Pedro Castro e Silva, deputy governor of the country’s central bank. 

“Africell came to Angola with a mandate to change its telecoms sector. [...] Launching Afrimoney is a critical step in this strategy. Our network is designed to help customers be better connected, live more efficiently, and access a wide range of digital services. Mobile money has the potential to link everything together, and we expect it to have a huge impact on our business and Angola’s economy,” said Ziad Dalloul, CEO and founder of Africell Group. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi