(Business in Cameroon) – Orange Money has achieved significant penetration and usage in Cameroon, ranking the country among the leading African markets for the platform. Representatives from Orange Money Cameroon presented data to the Directorate General of Customs (DGD) in Yaoundé on May 27, 2025, highlighting the service’s extensive reach as part of a proposal to the customs administration.
Orange Money, a subsidiary of Orange Cameroon specializing in mobile payments, now serves more than 11 million customers in Cameroon. This figure represents over 11.5% of the 96 million Orange Money users across 17 African countries.
Official data also show that more than 100,000 sales outlets in Cameroon provide Orange Money services, supporting the creation of over 200,000 jobs to date. These outlets account for more than 25% of the 400,000 points of sale dedicated to Orange Money distribution across Africa, according to Orange Group figures.
The widespread adoption of mobile payment services such as Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money in Cameroon reflects their popularity since launch. Their flexibility in enabling money transfers, withdrawals, merchant payments, mobile banking, and tax payments has fueled a surge in mobile money usage in recent years.
The expansion of mobile money in Cameroon was notably accelerated by restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The global lockdown prompted many Cameroonians to adopt mobile money services, as reducing cash handling in financial transactions was a key preventive measure promoted by the government to curb the spread of the virus. Authorities encouraged the use of mobile money, e-payment, and mobile banking. In response, mobile money operators reduced fees and ramped up promotional offers to attract more users.
Intense Competition for Market Leadership
The impact of these measures, along with the broader benefits of mobile money in promoting financial inclusion, is reflected in the results of the 5th Cameroon Household Survey (Ecam 5), published on April 24, 2024, by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The survey shows that mobile money usage in Cameroon “increased significantly,” rising from 29.9% in 2017 to 42.7% in 2022 among people aged 15 and older—a 12.8 percentage point increase over five years.
The 2022 Report on Payment Services in the CEMAC region published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), underscores Cameroon’s dominance in mobile money within the six-nation bloc. According to BEAC, Cameroon accounted for the majority of mobile money transactions in the region in 2022, both by volume (71%, or 1.7 billion transactions) and by value (55%, or 59,003 billion CFA francs).
Local subsidiaries of Orange and MTN are engaged in fierce competition for market leadership. Orange Cameroon claims a 70% market share in mobile money, while MTN contests this, asserting superior performance. “I believe I can also say that we have now become the leader in the mobile financial services market, as our subsidiary Mobile Money Corporation now has the largest active mobile money user base in the country,” said Mitwa Ng’ambi, then CEO of MTN Cameroon, in an interview with Investir au Cameroun in early 2023.
Brice R. Mbodiam
