Orange customers in nine countries across Africa will be able to use its mobile money wallet to pay for fuel in over 1,000 service stations, after the operator signed a new deal with Shell licensee Vivo Energy.

The service is already available to Orange Money customers in Mali, Ivory Coast and Madagascar. Following this new agreement, it will be extended to Botswana, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauritius, Senegal and Tunisia – countries where Orange’s service is available and Vivo operates.

Orange is currently seeing significant momentum in its money business, as it adds new markets and expands its reach to almost 30 million customers across Africa. Its Money service, which is sold under several different brands, is available in 17 different markets.

Thierry Millet, EVP mobile financial services at Orange Group, (pictured) said: “Orange Money has evolved well beyond money transfer to cover from now on all the essential transactions that our customers perform every day. It has become a decisive financial inclusion tool on the continent.

“Together with Vivo Energy, through this multi-country partnership, we significantly increase the number of merchants that accept mobile money transactions. This is a real gain of proximity for our shared customers that can pay in a fast and secure way, and cash in and cash out from any Vivo Energy outlet”.