VIDEO INTERVIEW: Manoj Kohli (pictured), CEO of international operations at Bharti Airtel, told Mobile World Live the usage of mobile money in some African countries has “taken leaps over” India and Nigeria, two of its largest markets .

And where mobile money is a hit, it can have spectacular growth. According to Kohli, some of its mobile money services see growth in usage of 20-30 per cent every month.

What fosters growth is the absence of a conventional banking infrastructure which is not the case in India and Nigeria, according to Kohli.

“These two markets are where the model is bank-led and not mobile company led. Other markets [in Africa] it is mobile company led. We are growing it very well. Customers who are unbanked are picking up money transfer and payments very spontaneously.”

Among the applications pushing usage is the disbursement of government payments – such as civil service salaries – or those for NGOs.

Watch the full interview here.