Kenya's fourth mobile network Essar Telecom said on December 15 it plans to launch a money transfer product to rival two similar products in east Africa's biggest economy. Other Kenyan operators, Safaricom and Zain, already have successful transfer products in the burgeoning African mobile communications sector.
"Money transfer is a big opportunity for Africa, which has a large unbanked population", Jayant Khosla, chief executive for Essar Group in Africa, said in a statement. "It is with this in mind that as we grow into other countries in Africa, we will ensure that this same innovative platform of mobile money transfer will also be utilised across the continent."
Operating as since its launch over a year ago, Essar expects its Kenyan customers to number two million before March 2010.
Essar Group, which operates a mobile service in India jointly with Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, plans to buy out assets within the continent.