MTN’s new deal with payments technology firm Flutterwave is set to deliver cash to the mobile wallets of more Africans via MTN Mobile Money (MoMo), with planned expansion in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
This digital move is primed to plug millions of unbanked people in those countries into mainstream financial services and prop up businesses, especially those in remote areas.
The deal between MTN and Flutterwave follows Safaricom’s entry into Ethiopia earlier this year, giving it access to a market of more than 110-million potential subscribers.
Safaricom, East Africa’s biggest telco, is gearing up for the commercial launch of operations in Ethiopia in 2022, with its subsidiary there announcing it will invest $8.5bn (about R123bn) over 10 years to steer digitalisation.
The firm aims to build a team of 1,000 employees by June next year.
"Our ongoing recruitment process is intentionally guided by the promise of a digital future for the people of Ethiopia," Anwar Soussa, managing director of Safaricom Ethiopia, said last week.
MTN MoMo is a fintech platform providing individuals and businesses with an electronic wallet for contactless financial services like electronic transfers and payments.
Its deal with Flutterwave comes on the strength of explosive growth in Africa’s mobile money systems that has made the continent a world leader.
More significant, it is expected to boost financial inclusion for those with no access to mainstream banking services.
According to research firm Statista, mobile money has become a big business for telecommunication providers in Africa.
About 144 mobile money providers operate on the continent, with companies such as M-Pesa, MoMo and Orange Money accounting for a significant share of the market."M-Pesa, managed by Vodafone and Safaricom and operating in seven countries, has seen significant growth in recent years," Statista says."The service attracted an additional 12-million users from 2017 to 2020, reaching 41.5-million users by 2020."M-Pesa users made 12.2-billion transactions in 2020, generating $784.36m in revenue for parent company Safaricom."MoMo – MTN Group’s mobile money offering – has enjoyed similar growth, reaching 35.1-million active customers in March 2020," Statista says.International Monetary Fund estimates show Africa has more digital financial services users than any other region in the world, accounting for nearly half of the 700-million individual users globally.In 2011 the level of financial inclusion in Africa was just over 23% and jumped to almost 43% in 2017, buoyed by the growth of digital financial services.The figure is expected to be much higher today.According to the African […]