Ericsson and the MTN Group are fortifying their collaboration to boost mobile financial services and empower millions of individuals across Africa economically. This partnership aims to expand the reach of financial inclusion, catering to both first-time users and high-end business applications, utilising MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) service on the Ericsson Wallet Platform.
The extensive range of services provided will grant MTN’s customer base across Africa access to a top-notch mobile connectivity-based financial ecosystem. In addition to advancing financial inclusion for the unbanked, MTN will offer advanced financial services to meet the evolving digital financial needs of individuals and enterprises.
Fuelled by the Ericsson Wallet Platform, MTN Mobile Money facilitates secure and convenient banking and payment transactions directly from mobile devices. MTN MoMo users can manage funds, pay merchants and utility providers, and access loans and insurance services, promoting financial freedom and stability.
With a focus on financial technology (FinTech), the platform aims to grow merchant and e-commerce payments, facilitate national and international money transfers (remittance services), advance banking solutions (BankTech), and offer insurance services (InsurTech).
The agreement was formalised during a visit by senior MTN Group executives to Ericsson’s Group Headquarters in Kista, Sweden, where key strategic priorities and collaboration were discussed. Currently, over 63 million MTN active subscribers use its Mobile Money platform across 16 African countries, with substantial growth in transaction value and volume since 2018.
The Ericsson Wallet Platform, supporting over 400 million registered mobile wallets globally, processes more than 2.8 billion transactions monthly. Serigne Dioum, Chief Fintech Officer at MTN Group, emphasises the significance of this collaboration in advancing economic empowerment across Africa, aligning with MTN’s Ambition 2025 goals.
Michael Wallis-Brown, Head of Mobile Financial Services at Ericsson, highlights the partnership’s impact on financial empowerment, from providing opportunities for the unbanked to offering advanced services for more experienced users. The collaboration also aligns with Ericsson’s AfricaInMotion vision for a sustainable and connected Africa.
As part of the extended partnership, there will be a transition to public cloud deployments and enhancements to the Open API services framework, fostering fintech innovation in Africa. This initiative aims to enable entrepreneurs to develop revenue-generating applications, utilising Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) for automated software development and deployment across all MTN Mobile Money operations in Africa.
