VIDEO INTERVIEW: Mobile money in Africa is still not “at an efficient place around interoperability”, believes Greta Bull, CEO of the World Bank’s Consultative Group for the Poor (CGAP).

Speaking to Mobile World Live at the GSMA’s Mobile 360 Africa event in Tanzania at the end of last month, Bull said interoperability “has only really begun, with a lot more to see”.

Her comments come after Tanzania become the first African country to offer full interoperability for P2P money transfers, according to the three leading operators pioneering the scheme, earlier this year.

Bull lauded the efforts as making a difference, but said it was now time to look “at other areas and use cases” around interoperability.

“There are a lot of bilateral agreements that are allowing people to interoperate and there are a set of common rules, but there is a lot more we can do to make that more efficient, more robust and more user friendly,” she said.

“A lot of companies are now looking to Tanzania to see how they can learn from the experience here.”

CGAP, which is made up of member donors, development finance institutions and big foundations, promotes financial inclusion across emerging markets, with mobile a key element to its work.

Bull added that there “is a huge differential” between what is reached through bank accounts and what can be reached through mobile, and that is even more pronounced in a region like Africa.

Watch the full interview here.