Ethio telecom launches telebirr, Mastercard partners with Billetera, MTN launches ‘MTN GoGames’, Banque Misr partners with Moneyfellow & other news.

Last two weeks, Week 18 &19 (May 03 - May 16, 2021) the African payment industry recorded some investments, launch of innovative products and strategic partnerships.

Ethio telecom launched telebirr Mobile Money Service, Maviance raised $3m from MFS Africa to digitise financial services across Central Africa, Mastercard and Billetera partnered to offer digital payments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MTN and ATechnos Launched ‘MTN GoGames’ to Deliver Fun to MTN Customers, Banque Misr signed MOU with MoneyFellows to ease digital payments and MTN’s Y’ello Digital Financial Services partnered Bet Operators in Nigeria for cash out of bet wins. Let us dive in.

Maviance raises $3m from MFS Africa to digitise financial services across Central Africa.

Maviance, a Cameroonian digital financial service company, has raised US$3 million in equity financing from MFS Africa. This investment gives MFS Africa an undisclosed minority stake in Maviance.

Maviance’s flagship product, Smobilpay, integrates payments solutions from banks, mobile money operators and telecoms operators. Smobilpay connects to Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l’Afrique Centrale (GIMAC) the interoperability switch of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) – the central bank of the Central African region comprising Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

According to Maviance, the seed funding will enable them to expand Smobilpay’s national footprint in Cameroon to serve more consumers and to expand into Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The plan is to become a regional company, providing cross-border services within the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) region and becoming a catalyst for interoperability.

Maviance is a digital financial service provider and technology consulting company founded in Germany in 2008. Maviance Cameroon launched Mobile money service in 2012 when mobile money looked unlikely in the country.

MFS Africa is a gateway to send money to mobile wallets in Africa. It covers 200 million mobile money recipients across all major networks. It connects mobile money systems to each other and to money transfer organisations, banks and other financial institutions, enabling money remittances to and from mobile money accounts.

Why is this important?

Last year MFS Africa acquired Beyonic, a Tanzania-based payments company. Last month, MFS Africa led a $2.3 million seed round in Numida, a credit provider for small businesses in Uganda and this recent investment. Like the big schemes such as Visa and Mastercard, MFS Africa is taking up stakes in several payment companies across Africa, positioning itself to become a regional contender in digital payments in Africa.

Mastercard and Billetera partner to offer digital payments in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mastercard has partnered with Billetera - a digital payments technology company headquartered in Kenya - to provide millions of financially excluded residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), access to formal financial and digital services through a diverse range of digital payment solutions.

According to Mastercard, this partnership with Billetera would create payments solutions that will drive acceptance of government services such as water and electricity bills, taxes such as wet market permits, housing rents and building permits, e-visas, customs payments in the ports. The acceptance solutions were designed for delivery through online portals and PostBank channels. With only 22.5 million of DRC’s total population of 90 million being financially included within the nation’s financial system, access to banking and mobile money is an important agenda for the government. Moreover, Digital 2020: The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, showed that as of January 2020, 40% of the population in DRC had mobile connections showing the growth potential of mobile users in the region.

According to the parties involved, the partnership will support the development of an e-citizen system through the launch of a digital wallet that will serve as the ID and main payments platform for payments to and from the government. The partnership is also meant to design a digital ecosystem that will provide the framework for digital payments across all government departments.

Why is this important?

This partnership solves two problems for the DRC government- digital identity service and financial inclusion. Mastercard had announced a similar project in the past. In 2012, Mastercard and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) partnered to issue SASSA Debit Mastercard cards in South Africa, following introducing the new biometric grant payment disbursement system. In 2013, the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Mastercard announced the roll-out of 13 million Mastercard-branded National Identity Smart Cards with electronic payment capability in Nigeria. The success of this project is unknown.

MTN, ATechnos Launch ‘MTN GoGames’ to Deliver Fun to MTN Customers

MTN Uganda in partnership with ATechnos has launched a free gaming service dubbed “MTN GoGames” to offer MTN customers access to a vast catalogue of mobile games that users can play with or with no gaming experience. However, the service has a selection of premium games for advanced game-players, which attracts a small fee of as low as UGX500 per day or UGX3,000 per month.

According to MTN, the platform delivers simple fun to its customers at any point in time. MTN GoGames will enable users to take a break from all the seriousness (especially COVID induced anxiety) and have some fun even if it is just for a few minutes.

MTN GoGames is a product delivered by ATechnos. All people, ranging from children to adults, can play the MTN GoGames since the games are simple and intuitive with the sole aim of delivering fun and relaxation. This gaming service is the first of its kind across MTN markets and could be played with or with no internet data.

ATechnos (Abhay Techno Services) provides digital transformation, mar-tech, consulting, content and value-added services (VAS) platform services.

Why is this important?

MTN is building capabilities in providing gaming content and monetising the premium accounts.

Banque Misr signs MOU with MoneyFellows to ease digital payments

Banque Misr, an Egyptian bank, has signed an MOU with MoneyFellows an electronic platform application allowing users to save by paying a fixed monthly amount.

Through this partnership, Banque Misr will provide MoneyFellows with payment services to develop together new disbursement, collection tools that suit the needs of online money circles’ users. Also, the parties will explore how to provide MoneyFellows with digital solutions to grant more convenience and ease.

According to Banque Misr, this cooperation will contribute to the expansion and spread of MoneyFellows Services, show Banque Misr support for digital transformation and unbanked citizens and show Banque Misr’s support of Fintechs. This partnership reinforces the bank’s interest to adopt the concept of digital transformation as a basic pillar on which to run its business in line with mobile phone adoption.

Founded in 2014, MoneyFellows is a collaborative Group Lending and Savings Platform. It manages Money Circles online, by digitising the traditional, informal offline ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) Model allowing users to meet their financial and saving needs.

This Bank Fintech partnership is a good move for the continent.

Ethio telecom launches telebirr Mobile Money Service

Ethiopia’s state telecoms, Ethio Telecom, has launched a mobile money service called telebirr. So far, it is the only mobile financial service permitted in the country.

telebirr Mobile Money Service will provide financial services such as depositing cash, sending and receiving money, withdrawing cash, airtime top-up, bill payment, merchant payment, mobile ticketing, fundraising and bulk disbursement. These services can be accessed using the telebirr app, USSD and SMS.

Ethiopia is about to auction two new full-service telecoms licenses, neither of which will allow the winners to roll out mobile financial services (within a specified period). MTN and Vodafone Group, an affiliate of Safaricom and Vodacom applications are being reviewed.

Ethio Telecom is Ethiopia’s state-owned telecom monopoly. Also, the government has shown interest to sell a 45 per cent stake in Ethio. Orange SA has shown interested in buying a minority stake in Ethio telecom. Orange opted for the acquisition of the stake option as another route to get into the Ethiopian telecom industry. It is also reported that Etisalat also seems interested in acquiring a stake in Ethio.

Why is this important?

Ethiopia is a nation’s 110 million people — the second-highest population in Africa. Successful take up of mobile money will increase mobile money usage in Africa, narrowing the financial inclusion gap in the continent. 

MTN’s Y’ello Digital Financial Services Partners Bet Operators in Nigeria

Y’ello Digital Financial Services (YDFS), a subsidiary of MTN Nigeria, has announced its partnership with gaming operators, Betway, BetPawa and Betmojo through its flagship mobile money transfer service, MoMo Agent. The strategic partnership will enable customers to cash their winnings and fund wallets conveniently at any MoMo Agent outlet nationwide.

With an agent base of over 300,000 across the country, MoMo Agent forms a major part of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive to ensure that 95% of adults are financially included by 2024. The partnership allows customers to use MoMo’s widespread presence and reliable service to access funds. MoMo Agent services include bill payment, cash deposit and withdrawal, data and airtime purchase, and a bulk disbursement solution which enables public and private companies to make payment to beneficiaries anywhere in Nigeria without a bank account or ATM availability.

According to YDFS, this partnership with gaming operators provides a simple solution for customers to access financial services, no matter where they are. Betway, BetPawa and Betmojo applauded the collaboration since leveraging MoMo agents nationwide for funding and cash out would improve customer experiences and even lead to revenue growth.

Why is this important?

Before now, betting is paid in cash at the agents’ office or into the winners specified bank accounts. This partnership reduces the burden on betting companies of having more agent locations as players would leverage MoMo agents for funding and cashing out.

An investigation in 2014 revealed that about 60 million Nigerians engage in sports betting. Today, there are over 50 sport betting sites in Nigeria. The explosion of betting in Nigeria is such that betting outlets are seen on almost every street in major cities. The uptake of MoMo in Nigeria since its launch in 2019 has been slow but this partnership could spur the usage of MoMo in Nigeria.

***About: I've spent the last 12 years building experience in Business Development, Partnerships, Strategy & Operations spanning across Africa. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation in the African Payment Space. I enjoy working with high performing teams to build innovative solutions. Solving the "how" of Strategic Implementation/Vision challenges related to businesses, products or partnerships is of utmost interest. If you've enjoyed this piece, don't hesitate to like, leave a comment and share the article with others.