LONDON (ShareCast) - Mobile phone payments developer Bango has teamed up with an African partner to develop a technology specifically suited to the continent’s payment culture.

The AIM-listed company and Nigeria-based Mobile Media Info Tech (MMIT) have launched M-Iflo as a tool to allow anyone to make mobile payments for apps, games and other smartphone content.

Bango Chief Executive Officer Ray Anderson said the technology was a “much-needed solution to the complexities of mobile content consumption in sub-Saharan Africa”.

“There's a smartphone boom in Africa and a frustrated demand for digital content. App stores and other merchants have been waiting for the reassurance of M-Iflọ, which limits the risk of doing business in Africa, and has been designed to suit the 'cash up front' instincts of the African market."

The companies argued that mobile billing has been held back across much of Africa because of various technological and political risk factors, which haves resulted in vague regulatory environments and a lack of sufficient infrastructure to support stable mobile billing systems.

“Settlement and collection of funds is complex, with rapidly fluctuating exchange rates, varying taxes, and transfer fees,” explained MMIT Chief Executive Officer Jide Akindele.

“Unfortunately corruption remains a substantial risk within the mobile money industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This has resulted in a reluctance from the world’s app stores and mobile brands to engage the African market.”

The pair said the M-Iflo was a new safe payment solution that would facilitate online transactions for digital content for those with or without mobile wallets, using vouchers like top-up cards for cash payments.

The technology will initially be available in Kenya and Nigeria, quickly followed by Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.

The partnership has integrated the technology with mobile wallet providers in Africa, including Mobipay in Kenya and Stanbic IBTC Mobile Money in Nigeria.

Shares in Bango were up 1.9% to 136p at 11:31 on Tuesday.

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