Airtel Money will be open to the company's subscribers, who will receive a password upon registration and can then transfer funds to peers and make utility payments through their handsets.

The Chad rollout is just the latest for Airtel, which is seeking to take advantage of the high levels of phone ownership and unbanked people to grab a slice of an African mobile money market expected to be worth $200 billion by 2015.

Salia Gbane, CEO, Airtel Chad, says: "This service allows customers to send money to their relatives, pay essential bills such as electricity and water, tuition fees, bookings and even buy groceries without having to carry cash. The phone essentially becomes an electronic wallet."