MTN Ghana partnered with carrier billing company Bango to allow the operator’s mobile money customers to make purchases directly from the Google Play store.

Bango said the new functionality was a “major step in broadening inclusivity for internet users in the region”. It added MTN customers without access to a credit or debit card would be able to access apps, games and music thanks to the deal.

Noel Kojo-Ganson, acting CMO of MTN Ghana, said: “The quest for digital content in the world and in our country today is enormous, but a convenient mode of payment has always been a bane to access”. He added the deal would allow its customers to “experience the bold new digital world.”

GSMA Intelligence figures for Q3 2017 placed MTN as the largest wireless operator by connections in Ghana, with a 47 per cent market share. Although recent statistics on the company’s mobile money share are unavailable, in a 2017 Bank of Ghana study, MTN was cited as having the largest network of mobile money agents in the country.

Tigo, Airtel and Vodafone’s Ghana units offer rival money services in the country.