Nine major mobile network operators have committed to work together in order to speed up the deployment of interoperable mobile money services across Africa and the Middle East, announced mobile industry association GSMA.

The operators are Bharti Airtel, Etisalat Group, Millicom, MTN Group, Ooredoo Group, Orange, STC Group, Vodafone Group and Zain Group.

The cooperation is part of GSMA’s global Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) programme, which includes mobile network operators from other regions.

MMI work focuses on helping operators successfully launch and scale interoperable mobile money services through identifying and sharing best practices, guidelines and processes, creating performance benchmarks, and providing regulatory support.

“We have seen the significant benefits of mobile financial inclusion in the developing world and operators recognise that, through collaboration, there are opportunities to extend this inclusion even further,” said Anne Bouverot (pictured), GSMA’s director general.

According to GSMA research, around 2.5 billion people in lower to middle income countries lack access to financial services. However, it’s also estimated that 1.7 billion of these people have a mobile phone, which offers a mobile money opportunity.

At the end of 2013, deployments in Middle East and North Africa represented just six per cent of live mobile money services globally and 13 per cent of total planned services, suggesting plenty of scope for growth.

Add in Sub-Saharan Africa, however, and the three regions combined – according to GSMA figures – accounted for 58 per cent of the world’s 218 mobile money deployments by the end of 2013.

Moreover, 66 per cent of all registered accounts and 73 per cent of active accounts are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, while mobile money users in these three regions accounted for 77 per cent of global transaction value in June 2013  (341 million transactions totalling $5.7 billion).

“Mobile money is a young industry, with over 80 per cent of all deployments launched during or after 2010,” added Bouverot. “In order to accelerate the growth of mobile money, we call on telecommunications, financial sector regulators and policymakers to provide a policy and fiscal environment that enables these services to be rolled out successfully to promote a nascent and important driver of commerce and socio-economic development.”