Vodafone’s mobile money service M-Pesa is having a full roll out in Ghana, a country in which 15m people do not currently have a bank account.
The service "allows anyone with a feature phone to quickly and safely transfer money", a Vodafone spokesperson told CBR, saying that many in the country work away from their families, and had previously had to find a way of getting cash back to them.
The service, which launched in Kenya in 2007, also allows small traders and businesses to make and receive payments via the service.
The Vodafone spokesperson also claimed that the introduction of M-Pesa in African countries had "transformed the economy."
Vodafone Director of Mobile Money Michael Joseph said: "Vodafone Cash extends the revolution of mobile money to Ghana, liberating our customers from the risks associated with carrying cash at all times. The strong demand for the service following the pilot launched in August shows that Ghanaians greatly value the freedom, peace of mind, security and convenience that M-Pesa offers."
The M-Pesa service itself had 23.4m users by the end of September this year, having seen 27% year-on-year growth. Ghana is the 11th country where the service has been rolled out. In Europe, it is available in Albania and Romania.
In the six months to September 2015, 2 billion individual M-Pesa transactions were carried out, a 26% year-on-year rise.
