Africell customers stranded as company halts mobile money withdrawals

KAMPALA, UGANDA: With only days left its planned exit from the Ugandan market, Africell customers are left stranded as the telecom operator is not allowing customers to make any mobile money withdrawals.

According to New Vision, an officer at the Africell Service Centre said all mobile money transactions are suspended for now as the company continues to forge its way out of the staggering economy.

“You cannot withdraw money from your account until October 7 when we have completed the reconciliation of our accounts. We will make a call to customers to provide their alternative MTN or Airtel lines, on which we will move their balances,” the officer said when contacted by New Vision on Wednesday.

When contacted on phone, a customer care representative confirmed that the information was the true position of the company.

Customers can only use their mobile money balances for purchase of airtime and selected electronic purchases, the officials explained.

Africell on Tuesday this week announced that it would close shop in Uganda on October 7 in a communication written to its employees.

According to Africell UG, the decision was reached on after a detailed assessment that was conducted over the past several months, on the future of the telecom company in Uganda.

“Africell strives to be a leader not only in terms of mobile services but also in terms of community impact and the digitally-led transformation of society. In Uganda, a country with a mature and competitive telecoms sector, we believe that the opportunity to achieve this impact is increasingly limited.

“We have therefore taken the difficult decision to permanently end Africell UG’s operations in Uganda,” management stated.

Africell, since its inception in 2014 when it purchased then Orange Telecom has been the third-largest telecommunications company in Uganda by customer numbers with the company majorly specializing in offering 4G fast internet service and affordable data packages in the country.

At the time of its launch, Africell inherited an estimated 1,000,000 subscribers from Orange Telecom, and this number at the time of its exit has grown to over 3,000,000 in 7 years, according to the company’s subscriber analytics.