Global telecommunications and media firm Millicom has announced today that following an agreement with Vodacom's M-Pesa service, Tigo Pesa customers in Tanzania will be the first in Africa to be able to transact with users of all their country's mobile money networks.

The agreement means that four million Tigo Pesa users will for the first time be able to exchange money with six million M-Pesa customers in Tanzania later this year, according to a media statement released.

"They will be able to do this in the same way that they already do with Airtel and Zantel customers following the launch of similar services with Tigo. These were the first examples of such "interoperability" in Africa when launched in 2014," the statement reads.

Commenting on the announcement, Millicom's Executive Vice President for Africa, Arthur Bastings, said "With Tigo Pesa customers will now have Africa's first universal mobile money exchange system. They will be able to safely and securely transact with millions more people across the country. It's another first for Tigo Pesa and Tanzania.

"Following the success of the service with Airtel and Zantel, we hope many more Tanzanians will choose mobile money so that everyone benefits and we can extend financial inclusion even further. We also intend to pioneer similar agreements with networks elsewhere," said Bastings.