Ghana Starts Money-Transfer Service Across Mobile Networks

(Bloomberg) -- Mobile-phone users in Ghana will be able to transfer money from one network to another using their devices from Thursday, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said.

The development forms part of efforts by the West African nation to use technology to build an economy less dependent on cash, he said at a conference in the capital, Accra, broadcast live on Citi FM.

The value of mobile-money transactions increased to 156 billion cedis ($35 billion) last year from 79 billion cedis the year before, according to data from the Bank of Ghana. Active mobile-money accounts increased to 11.1 million from 8.3 million over the period.

The government will soon pass laws governing payment systems and electronic transfers both within the country and with trading partners, Bawumia said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Moses Mozart Dzawu in Accra at mdzawu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels, Michael Gunn

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.