A senior Ericsson executive says interoperability is needed between competitors if  mobile money services are to thrive in Nigeria, potentially one of Africa’s largest markets for such services.

Adam Kerr, Ericsson’s head of m-commerce, told the country’s Business Day newspaper there is a need for a system that enables a subscriber to send and receive money via their handset with a subscriber on any other network.

The Central Bank of Nigeria last year issued eleven mobile money licences to promote a competitive market in such services. However, some analysts have argued that without interoperability there is a risk of fragmentation.

Ericsson recently released a new report from its ConsumerLab which sets out the potential for mobile phones to lead a transformation of m-commerce across sub-Saharan Africa.