MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda Expanding One Area Network Agreement to Allow Cross-Border Mobile Money Transfers

The governments of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which established One Area Network Agreement (OANA) in January to improve cross-border telecommunications, are seeking to expand its scope to allow mobile money transfers among the countries. Earlier in 2015, OANA was used to remove the tariffs among Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda allowing for lower cross-border calling rates [2]. Government officials in the three countries reportedly are attempting to gain approval from their respective central banks and Treasury Ministries to allow the money transfer service.

Fred Matiang’i, Communications and Technology Cabinet Secretary for Kenya, was quoted as saying “We are now exploring how we can have the One Area Network infrastructure grow from voice to data and mobile money transfer. We want you to be able to move money from your M-Pesa account here to a relative in Kigali and vice versa or from Airtel Uganda to Safaricom in Nairobi” [1].

By Jeff Pierce, Research Associate

About One Area Network Agreement (OANA)

The One Area Network Agreement (OANA), established in January 2015, is an agreement among Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda with the goal of lowering the cost of cross-border communication services.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] All Africa News Story: “East Africa: Mobile Money Transfer Across EA Coming Soon,” Wahito, Margaret, http://allafrica.com/stories/201504010418.html

[2] Africa Review News Story: “EA to adopt One Network Area, call rates drop,” Ligami, Christabel, http://www.africareview.com/News/EA-to-adopt-One-Network-Area-call-rates-to-drop-/-/979180/2555256/-/pntnaez/-/index.html

MicroCapital Universe Profile: OANA

https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=One+Area+Network+Agreement+%28OANA%29

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