Africa’s leading Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MTN, Vodacom and Safaricom, have recently made bold plans to venture into the increasingly dynamic world of fintech. On 23 rd June 2021, Safaricom launched its super app, which creates an ecosystem of mini apps from the network operator as well as third party apps that feed off the super app. A month prior to this development, Safaricom, the leading MNO in Kenya announced plans to release an Application Protocol Interface (API) for the super app to enable third-party app developers to build more products and services on top of the super app. This means the super app is going to be an app store that consolidates the reach of Safaricom.
In May, MTN also announced plans to become a tech platform to rival the likes of Apple and WeChat as part of their Ambition 2025 which is currently being implemented. MTN, Africa’s leading telecom operator, is developing its Ayoba messaging platform into a super app that would include its Mobile Money (MoMo) application and video and music streaming services, largely inspired by the international success of WeChat, a powerful multi-purpose messaging, social media and digital wallet app. In April, Vodacom CEO sat down with CNN to discuss plans for building a super app in South Africa in partnership with Alipay. The new service will be integrated with Vodapay to create a financial services super app that will let users pay utility bills, transfer money and get connected with online merchants and suppliers. Although the partnership with Alipay was announced last year during the pandemic to bring the much-needed digital services to consumers under lockdown, it has taken almost a year for them to bring the service to life. This suggests that becoming a fintech startup is easier said than done. In March, Liquid Telecom with operations in different African countries rebranded to Liquid Intelligent Technologies to show that it is now a one-stop-shop technology group. Very soon, the company would also launch a super app to allow consumers to access all its services through one platform. Although Orange, another MNO with operations in 18 African countries has not announced a super app, the company’s launching of Orange Bank Africa last year, in addition to their already existing Orange Money service, seems to play into the super app narrative. Airtel Africa has also not announced a super app although they had stella performances last […]
