Orange announced the expansion into Kenya of its mobile money service, which the operator says is on target to reach 1 million customers across Africa by the end of November. The France Telecom-owned operator aims to have 2 million African customers of Orange Money by next summer, according to Marc Rennard, the operator’s executive director for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, notes Dow Jones Newswires. The service is now available in six countries, following its debut in the Ivory Coast in December 2008. The Kenyan launch is in partnership with the Equity Bank Group, and the two partners are considering launching the service together in other East African countries. Mobile money services enable customers to carry out simple banking transactions via their mobile phones.

Mobile money is one element in Orange’s strategy to accrue more revenue from its emerging markets footprint in Africa and the Middle East. Other initiatives include the imminent launch of a high-definition voice service in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, the first time such a service has been launched in Africa or the Middle East, says the company. Orange also announced it will open a new centre for developing products and services for sub-Saharan Africa before the end of this year. The centre will be in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. “Orange wants to be the champion of rural Africa,” Rennard told the Financial Times. France Telecom also confirmed its plans to double revenue from Africa and the Middle East over the next five years.