Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) and Ethio Telecom are set to sign a master service agreement (MSA) to cooperate on accelerating Camtel’s digital transformation, to include Camtel’s launch of its planned mobile money service, Blue Money.
According to a statement issued by Camtel on Tuesday, the three-year MSA calls for Camtel and Ethio Telecom to work together on four main areas: development of Camtel’s Blue Money service, modernisation of Camtel’s mobile network (including 4G and 5G), digitisation of public services and the establishment of a sovereign government cloud, and internal transformation for Camtel including organisation, information systems and customer culture.
The MSA also provides for sustainable skills transfer between Camtel and Ethio Telecom via expert missions, training and mentoring sessions.
According to Reuters, Camtel is planning to launch Blue Money sometime next year, and has an initial capital of XAR500 million (around US$888,880) to kick off the service.
Cameroon’s digital payments market is one of the hottest in the CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) region. According to the Ecofin news agency, citing a report by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Cameroon accounts for 62.1% of registered mobile money accounts, 63.5% of transaction volume and 76.5% of the value of mobile money operations in CEMAC.
Camtel will have its work cut out for it – Cameroon’s mobile money market is currently ruled by MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money, who command over 80% of mobile money transactions between them. Camtel’s potential edge is its telecoms infrastructure, which includes the country’s fibre-optic backbone, as well as its long-term presence in several rural areas, the report said.
Ethio Telecom has had considerable success at home with its own mobile money service Telebirr, which currently has close to 57.6 million subscribers. The telco has also been expanding its financial services portfolio, the latest move being a partnership with Awash Bank to launch a new digital credit, savings and device-financing service available via Telebirr.
According to a Facebook post from Camtel on Wednesday, Ethio Telecom’s delegation has arrived in Yaoundé, with plans to sign the MSA on December 4.
During the two-day visit, Ethio Telecom representatives are scheduled to conduct working sessions with Camtel's technical, commercial and senior management teams and meet with public authorities.
The Ethio Telecom delegation visit comes eight months after a Camtel delegation, including Camtel CEO Judith Yah, visited Ethio Telecom in April to talk about the telco’s experience with Telebirr’s growth.
