Following months of negotiation, the Bank of Zambia and the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at facilitating the growth of mobile money services in the country.

The MoU is expected to facilitate cooperation and the exchange of information between the two stakeholders to encourage growth within the mobile money market, which is steadily taking root in the country.

Statistics from the Bank of Zambia shows that the number of mobile money accounts in the Southern African country have reached 3.4 million compared to 2 million traditional bank accounts.

Bank of Zambia deputy governor in-charge of administration Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula said the area of cooperation and exchange of information under the MoU will be the regulation and supervision of mobile financial services.

Kankasa-Mabula added that the Bank was optimistic that partnering with ZICTA and other stakeholders would provide an enabling regulatory environment that fosters innovation and financial inclusion.

"Zambia has a wide mobile phone network coverage which provides an opportunity for expansion of mobile financial services to reach peri-urban and rural areas where traditional financial services are not able to reach," Kankasa-Mabula said.