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Pan-African e-commerce platform Jumia to retail Starlink satellite services 

Simon Dux
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Pan-African e-commerce platform Jumia to retail Starlink satellite services 

Jumia will look to expand its markets to counter tough trading conditions, while Starlink gets a partner in new markets 

E-commerce platform Jumia, with more than 100,000 sellers across the African continent has announced an agreement with Starlink to retail its residential kit in Africa. The agreement will initially cover Nigeria, with plans for expansion to Kenya, and then to the remaining African countries where it operates including Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda. 

The e-commerce platforms are entering a tough fight with emerging telco financial services offerings from the likes of MTN, Vodacom and Safaricom.  

Jumia is looking to pivot to profitability after a tough quarter across the continent leading to it seeing declines across the board in its active consumers and orders. It currently has around 8.4m active consumers across the continent.  

The macro-economic environment has been hit hard by a combination of high inflation exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve which hits countries hardest with poor current account balances – plus massive currency devaluations like in Nigeria. 

The average inflation level across Jumia’s markets hit 14.1% in June. Ghana and Egypt suffered the worst inflation at 42.5% and 35.7% respectively. Inflation in Nigeria rose to an 18-year high at 22.8% in June. 

“We are thrilled to be the first company on the continent to join forces with Starlink to expand this groundbreaking technology in Africa,” said Jumia Group chief commercial officer Hisham ElGabry. “By expanding access to Starlink’s internet service through the Jumia platform, individuals and communities can be empowered with high-speed, low-latency internet access, driving economic growth and unlocking new opportunities.” 

“The reliable high-speed connectivity can empower users to access online resources, participate in e-learning platforms, engage in e-commerce, and enhance their communication capabilities,” he added. 

Fewer ground stations needed  

Starlink would typically need a bunch of ground stations to support a rapid rollout across Africa but last week the satellite services operator deployed its second-generation satellites, which besides having four times the capacity of the existing satellites, feature space lasers which will enable the satellites to connect thousands of kilometres apart. The company claims the ever-moving LEO constellation can maintain pointing accuracy to enable data transfers up to 100Mbps on each link. 

If Starlink gets it all working correctly, it opens plenty of opportunities – more than likely at the expense of VSATs – to provide connectivity in African markets quickly.  Last week, Paratus Group also became a distributor for Starlink’s services across Africa.

Starlink is currently officially available in Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, and Eswatini are set to launch Starlink before year’s end, as are Angola, Tanzania, Senegal – despite a crackdown on Starlink – Ghana, and Zambia – based on its availability map.  

Despite more than a thousand South Africans using a back-door method to access the satellite internet services from Starlink, the provider does not currently have a licence to operate in South Africa from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. 

Pictured: Startup group ImpactAfricaNetwork having some Starlink Lion King fun. Full Video in X. 

BT testbed to highlight network’s role in developing immersive experiences

Annie Turner
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BT testbed to highlight network’s role in developing immersive experiences

It will trial mixed reality applications for the home, health and entertainment

BT Group today launches a testbed to develop and trial immersive experiences in the areas of work, home, health and entertainment. The plan is to allow BT Group and others to explore mixed reality use cases enabled by capabilities like exposing network functions, cloud-rendering, better localisation and 5G.

It hopes that by inviting technology partners and customers to collaborate using the testbed, they will collectively develop technologies from various solution providers. They will use EE’s public 5G network and private 5G networks.

BT thinks, like many before, that immersive extended reality experiences have the potential to revolutionise the way we connect, live, work, learn, create, and play. This has yet to materialise and BT reckons their development relies upon strong foundations in networks, technologies and standards. 

Hence BT Group wants to understand how networks, platforms, services and apps can be optimised for cloud-GPU rendered extended reality immersive experiences delivered over EE’s public and private 5G networks. The testbed will look to support a range of extended reality use cases, with a focus on augmented reality which enables blended realities – mixing virtual content with the real-world.

Network optimisation

Gabriela Styf Sjoman, MD Research and Network Strategy, BT Group, commented, “Network optimisation is a fundamental enabler for immersive experiences that will require high bandwidth, high capacity, and ultra-low latency networks which can be dynamically configured for the demands of different extended reality service applications. 

“As the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile networks we’re delighted to invite others in the ecosystem to work with us, using the testbed to explore future use cases for consumers, enterprise and industry sectors.

“With this testbed we’re looking to understand what future extended reality immersive experiences might require from network service providers like BT Group, platform operators and application service developers. These requirements will obviously vary depending on the particular use case.”

At the extreme…

Andy Gower, Head of Immersive Content & Comms Research at BT Group, added, “At the extreme we might need to support a completely cloud rendered immersive experience which would require high-bandwidth and low-latency networks paired with new facilities. [They could include] network exposure functions that would enable a platform operator to request additional capabilities such as edge GPU compute or symmetric bandwidth provision [to] optimise the end-user experience.

“By understanding the demands of future service use cases – networks, platforms and applications can be optimised to provide the best possible quality of experience for users.”

Still in test phase

The platform is still in testing phase, but has enabled demos of use cases for car retail, education, sports broadcasting and medical imaging. At its recent Sustainability Festival, BT showcased an extended reality digital twin of Adastral Park (pictured) – its global R&D headquarters. 

Using 5G, cloud-GPU rendering and hybrid localisation, users can view data like power usage of buildings and equipment by integrating live data streams from Johnson Controls International.  

Digital twins are a core building block of immersive experiences, BT says. They can be used to collate and present real-time data from physical systems in an immersive virtual presentation, enabling real-time monitoring and two-way control, plus modelling, simulation and analytics of complex real-world systems. 

BT hopes future immersive experiences will be developed collectively by an ecosystem of content providers, hardware, software, platform developers, underpinned by strong technological foundations and enabling technologies.

Huawei launches $430mn fund to boost Digital Africa

Annie Turner
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0
Huawei launches $430mn fund to boost Digital Africa

Strategy announced at the eighth annual Huawei Connect event in Shanghai whose focus is on AI

Terry HE, President of Huawei Northern Africa (North, West & Central Africa) launched a new strategy for North Africa called Accelerate Intelligence for New Africa. He described it as “a comprehensive blueprint for Africa’s digital and technological future”.

He said some 60% of Africa’s population is aged 25 or younger, and digitalisation is a major catalyst for growth in African nations as well as having great potential to leverage green energy which is a competitive advantage in the AI era.

Hence Huawei’s strategy is built around the integration of smart technologies, particularly AI, into sectors such as health, education, transport, finance, agriculture and mining.

It envisages three core action areas where AI can be leveraged:

  • to improve inclusion, by expanding the coverage and quality of essential services;
  • to enable better governmental management and make the business and commercial environment more attractive; and
  • to heighten operational efficiency and productivity across the economy, particularly in Africa’s key industries.

Investment fund

HE unveiled a five-year, $430 million investment plan, Intelligent Future, to put these goals into practice in Northern Africa region – defined as the 28 countries north of the equator within Africa.

HE said $200 million will establish the region’s first public cloud centre, offering more than 200 cloud services. An additional $200 million is to support 200 local software partners and empower 1,300 channel partners. Huawei will invest $30 million to train 10,000 local developers and educate 100,000 digital professionals, creating a skilled workforce to drive intelligent transformation in the region.

Big, tough challenges

HE noted that the challenges are huge and the stakes high, saying, “Every technological evolution is characterised by perseverance, exploration, and investment. To expedite intelligent transformation in Northern Africa, Huawei will intensify its investments in technologies, ecosystems, and talent.”

He stressed the critical importance of close collaboration between governments, businesses, educational institutions, and communities to realise these ambitions. The press statement read: “For Huawei, Africa represents a pivotal element of the company’s growth ambitions, underscoring its unwavering commitment to the continent’s digital transformation.”

TalkTalk sells business unit to shareholders, grapples with £1.1bn debt

Annie Turner
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0
TalkTalk sells business unit to shareholders, grapples with £1.1bn debt

The service provider is to split into three parts after the sale of the enterprise business

TalkTalk has sold its business unit to its own shareholders to improve the firm’s stability ahead of refinancing which is due in the New Year. The company is struggling with debts of £1.1 billion.

TalkTalk Business Direct has been sold to its shareholders using a special purpose (SPAC) vehicle, controlled by its main shareholders, for £95 million. Private equity firm Toscafund took TalkTalk private in a £1.1 billion deal in 2020. Sir Charles Dunstone, founded the company which was spun out from Carphone Warehouse and remains a major shareholder.

Failed attempts

There were failed attempts to sell the business division to parties including Sky and Daisy Group for as much as £150 million. The SPAC-enabled deal involves a wholesale contract with another TalkTalk unit, which should be worth £25 million over the next three years.

After this deal is completed, the plan is to break TalkTalk up into three parts – the business division, a wholesale arm and consumer unit – and sell them off or at least stakes in them. If the business division is sold in the next year, any proceeds above £95 million will go to the company.

The split means that each of the three divisions could be refinanced separately, which it is hoped, will increase their appeal.

CEO Tristia Harrison, who has been in the job since 2017, will lead a new transition board to oversee the split and step down next year, then become a member of the board of the wholesale division in March. 

However, her predecessor, Dido Harding is the CEO for which TalkTalk is best remembered as she presided over a catastrophic data breach in early 2015. Up to 21,000 unique bank account numbers and sort codes were stolen. The company never recovered.

European operator groups lobby Brussels for progress on fair-share

Annie Turner
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0
European operator groups lobby Brussels for progress on fair-share

20 European CEOs nudge European parliament and EC – results from EC consultation were due in June

ETNO members have sent an open letter from 20 CEOs of European telco groups to the European Commission and members of the European parliament.

Signatories include Timotheus Höttges at Deutsche Telekom, Christel Heydemann at Orange, José María Álvarez-Pallete at Telefónica, Pietro Labriola at Telecom Italia and Margherita Della Valle from Vodafone. It was supported by BT’s outgoing CEO, Philip Jansen, and his successor Allison Kirkby, who is currently CEO at Telia.

Serious pressure needs regulation

The article quotes the letter saying, “Future investments are under serious pressure and regulatory action is needed to secure them. It continues, “A fair and proportionate contribution from the largest traffic generators towards the costs of network infrastructure should form the basis of a new approach.”

They are arguing for a charging mechanism that is transparent and all about accountability, “So operators invest directly into Europe’s digital infrastructure”.

After years of failing to gain traction for what is now called a fair-share contribution, European operators appear to be gaining support within the various governing and executive layers of the European Union. For instance, in June, the European parliament called for a policy framework within which Big Tech could contribute fairly without contravening the somewhat tricky concept of network neutrality.

However, findings from the European Commission’s consultation on the matter, which was launched in February, were due in June and are still pending. In September, the Commission published its first State of the Digital Decade report  in which it suggested that €200 billion additional investment would be needed to deliver gigabit coverage across the EU by 2030.

Consolidation and scale

The letter also seized the opportunity to ask regulators to take a more favourable approach to market consolidation – such as Orange acquiring MASMOVIL in Spain – to allow operators to leverage scale.

This vexed issue is going to run and run in Europe. In the meantime, it’s interesting that SKT in South Korea and Netflix have dropped their long-running legal battle and instead opted to offer joint bundles whose pricing presumably meets the needs of all parties.

The South Korean example of successfully forcing Netflix to pay, after ‘breaking the internet’ with its Squid Game TV series, is frequently cited by proponents of a fair-share scheme in Europe as proof the approach can succeed. You can read a more detailed analysis of the SKT situation here.

Enterprise 5G network security to hit $21bn by 2027, ABI says

Annie Turner
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0
Enterprise 5G network security to hit $21bn by 2027, ABI says

To drive the market, telcos need to offer enterprises SaaS-based solutions in various deployment scenarios

ABI Research predicts demand for secure software and services in the enterprise sector will mean the 5G network security market will be worth $21 billion by 2027. In the last few years, various macroeconomic factors have slowed growth in the 5G enterprise sector, including network security.

Michela Menting, Senior Research Director at ABI Research, noted that the outlook for global economic recovery still looks sluggish but on the upside, security requirements have been clarified and are being worked on in standards bodies and industry consortia. Also, the market for secure software and services is becoming better defined.

Menting said in a statement, “Network equipment operators and cybersecurity vendors are marketing advanced XDR [extended detection and response – a Software-as-a-Service or SaaS tool] and network security solutions, all targeted at the telcos who are…positioning enterprise security solutions for 5G deployments”.

Dedicated solutions

According to ABI’s new study, private networks are also seeing increasing demand for dedicated security solutions at the enterprise level. Security vendors are working toward a two-fold goal: enabling interoperability with and integration of established network security products into 5G networks; and creating customised security solutions for 5G networks.

“While some of these projects will take time to get up and running, initial trials with existing cybersecurity vendors are consolidating a nascent network security market for 5G,” says Menting.

“Many solutions are focused on leveraging software-based technologies such as virtualized next-gen firewalls powered by machine learning, endpoint security, certificate lifecycle management, and containerization for cloud workloads into Security Orchestration Automation and Response and Extended Detection and Response offerings.”  

Making money

Once the telcos put these solutions in place, the idea is to offer them as customisable service offerings for enterprises in various deployment scenarios. They include public, private and hybrid, as well as through slices. This is the primary driver for the 5G network security market, and it is expected to gain enterprises’ trust and spur the adoption of 5G networks.

These findings are from ABI Research’s 5G Network Security Revenue market data report.

Spanish fibreco Rede Aberta announces 50G-PON trial with Huawei 

Simon Dux
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0
Spanish fibreco Rede Aberta announces 50G-PON trial with Huawei 

Company also hits 200,000 homes served milestone in 86 municipalities across rural Galicia

Galician-based neutral open access network provider Rede Aberta has announced it will begin trials of 50G-PON with its vendor Huawei. The project has been scheduled for Q1 2024 and will take place in the city of Santiago de Compostela – where the telco is headquartered – and rural environments surrounding it. Huawei launched its commercial 50G-PON solution in April. 

The telco unveiled the trial at an event inaugurating its new 1Gbps fibre connection to the remote and photogenic Fisterra lighthouse, over the weekend.  

Rede Aberta CEO Pere Antentas said the trial will be “a pioneering initiative in the European Union” and will target biotech companies in the city. He emphasised the trial continued the company’s fibre innovation after launching XGS-PON based services last year. He suggested data usage could grow up to nine times on the company’s network by 2030.  

Last month, the Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF)-owned Rede Aberta secured €50 million senior debt package from Allianz Global Investors to expand its FTTH network. The CEBF, managed by Cube Infrastructure Managers, is a €555 million fund established to help achieve the European Commission’s Gigabit Society objectives. 

The fibreco is active in more than 80 municipalities within the four provinces of Galicia and has rolled out more than 2,000km of fibre. By 2026, Rede Aberta aims to cover approximately 430,000 households. In conjunction with its sister company, Asteo, which operates in Castilla y León and Extremadura, the CEBF Spanish fibre platform aims to become the largest wholesale-only neutral open access fibre network in rural Spain. 

In his speech Antentas said the fibreco will also work with partners to create “the CPDs of the Camino” – a network of data centres in Galicia that will provide “management autonomy, without interruptions in services and away from the vagaries of geopolitics.” 

He also highlighted the telco had also been a successful bidder for funds in the UNICO Plan of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the A Coruña province and has already executed a third of the 36,550 planned units, which gives the company confidence it can reach 100% before the end of 2024. “We hope to continue with the UNICO 2023 Plan in Pontevedra, if we win the competition to which we have submitted,” he said. 

Collaboration with other operators 

Antentas thanked the contribution of local telecommunications operators which he said contributed to the spread of fibre in the countryside. “They helped us deploy the fibre in the most remote corners. They have the final [reach in] the territory; they are our eyes in the countryside. Without them we would not be here,” he told Código Cero. 

In addition, he announced that R and the Más Móbil joined Rede Aberta as customers. “A milestone…because it is the confirmation that we are a neutral operator that we do things well. R is the reference operator in Galicia and a much-loved brand in our land,” he said. The two take the fibreco’s customer list to around 20 local, regional, national and business ISPs. 

Image (from left to right): Carles Paradeda, financial director of Rede Aberta, Pere Antentas, CEO of Rede Aberta, Aurea Domínguez, mayor of Fisterra, Maria Rivas, deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña and Julian Cerviño, director of AMTEGA 

Orange Belgium incorporates cable footnote in new fibre bundle branding 

Simon Dux
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0
Orange Belgium incorporates cable footnote in new fibre bundle branding 

Operator to increase prices for slowest broadband in New Year. Low-cost mobile unit hey! adds fixed wireless internet 

Orange Belgium has launched four new fibre broadband packages, replacing its single Internet Home offering, that will see users on the slowest speeds see prices increase from January. 

To head off any issues with the Jury for Ethical Advertising (JEP), the telco has incorporated a footnote number into its branding, essentially to cover the fact it isn’t quite fibre all-the-way in Flanders where it is still using Telenet’s HFC for the last mile.  

In the not-so-small-print the telco points out the so-called “Fiber” packages feature “coaxial termination…allowing speeds of up to 1Gbps (subject to geographic availability).” 

As a result, the new packages are: Start Fiber [1] (150Mbps), Zen Fiber [1] (400Mbps), Giga Fiber [1] (1Gbps) and All-In Fiber [1] (1Gbps + My Comfort Service, ensuring a VIP experience, 4G backup, and free annual check). Existing customers will be transferred automatically. 

Orange will eventually use the Wyre’s full-fibre network – the joint venture of Telenet and Fluvius – once the rollout has been done.  

While prices will stay the same initially, from January the lowest tier will see prices increase €45 per month instead of €40 for fixed internet in the so-called Love pack (with mobile subscription and/or TV) and €49 instead of €46 for fixed internet only. Users with faster internet as part of the Love bundle via Orange’s optional boost will pay the same amount after that date. 

Meanwhile, users with a separate internet subscription of 400Mbps or 1Gbps will pay €2 less per month, resulting in €59 or €69 per month respectively. 

“Thanks to its state-of-the-art HFC network, Orange Belgium can already provide next-level connectivity while investing in future upgrades,” said Orange Belgium chief consumer officer Christophe Dujardin. “With this launch, we reinforce our Lead the Future-strategy as we deliver cutting-edge connectivity offers and services that enable fast, reliable, and accessible internet, for an excellent customer experience.” 

Budget brand Hey launches fixed wireless internet 

Although Orange may see some churn once it raises its fixed broadband lowest tier prices, it may be able to hold onto some users after its budget brand hey! added a fixed internet service to its mobile offer. After a three-month promotional period at €29, the subscription will cost €39 per month, including with a modem, placing it under Orange’s new Start Fiber [1] tier offering. 

Hey! stated the service will feature a download speed of 150 Mbps, 10 Mbps upload and unlimited data on Orange’s HFC meaning it will be targeted at residential and small business customers.  

“With the addition of home internet, the brand continues to evolve and adapt to customers’ needs, offering efficient digital servicing with appealing and multi-product customer propositions,” said Dujardin. 

Last month hey!, Orange Belgium’s digital brand launched in September 2021, doubled its data rates for users who can now choose from three packages: 2GB (€7/month and €5/month for those under 26 years), 20GB (€15/month and €10 for those under 26 years) or 80GB (€25/month and €20 for those under 26 years).  

As a result of the data doubling, these data volumes will increase to 4GB, 40GB and 160GB after one year. 

Footnote: HFC is not fibre.  

Stonepeak to acquire 49% of Cellnex’s opcos in Sweden and Denmark for €730mn

Annie Turner
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0
Stonepeak to acquire 49% of Cellnex’s opcos in Sweden and Denmark for €730mn

Proceeds will be used to reduce debt, help it achieve investment grade credit rating by the end of next year

Stonepeak and Cellnex Telecom have agreed that Stonepeak will acquire a 49% interest in Cellnex Sweden and Cellnex Denmark (known as Cellnex Nordics) for €730 million. This is the equivalent of 24x the estimated Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization, and Special Losses (EBITDAL) for 2024.

Cellnex will continue to manage the day-to-day business of Cellnex Nordics and consolidate the results of its operations. It has a network totalling 4,557 sites across the two countries. The company also has commitments and options to build and operate about 2,500 more sites in the region.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024. Cellnex will use the proceeds of this deal to reduce its debt, in line with objectives it set in November 2022 which are organic growth and achieving an investment grade credit rating by the end of next year.

News that Cellnex was considering selling a stake in its Nordic unit first surfaced in July. Cellnex signed a €315 million loan to with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to boost 5G mobile infrastructure in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Poland the same month.

Reuters reports that the deal is locked for five years after which each company will have preemptive rights to buy if the other seeks to sell. After eight years, Cellnex will have the right to buy back the assets and Stonepeak will have the right to sell to a third party.

The market reacted positively, increasing the share price by 4.2% in early trading.

Marco Patuano, Cellnex CEO, commented: “The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings. The agreement with Stonepeak shows Cellnex’s ability to attract the interest of high-quality financial partners who understand and value the inherent quality of the assets as well as the future opportunities in these markets.”

Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak Managing Director, said: “We believe Cellnex Nordics, as the region’s leading independent tower company, is strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years. We view partnering with Cellnex, with its consistent track record of financial performance, execution on built-to-suit delivery, and mergers and acquisitions, as a natural fit for Stonepeak’s Core infrastructure strategy. We look forward to working closely with the Cellnex team to help further their strategic objectives in both Sweden and Denmark.”

Nomura International is serving as lead financial advisor, Guggenheim Securities is serving as financial advisor, and Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is serving as legal counsel to Stonepeak. AZ Capital is serving as financial advisor and Baker & McKenzie LLP is serving as legal counsel to Cellnex.

MTN expands financial services into remittances and business payments 

Simon Dux
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0
MTN expands financial services into remittances and business payments 

The South African telco’s new services will make it one of the country’s leading financial services platforms 

Africa’s largest mobile operator has put South Africa’s banks on notice after launching services allowing its nine million mobile money subscribers to send cash abroad and businesses to accept payments via an app. The telco also launched a MoMo business wallet and simplified payments solutions. 

Given the wider absence of banking infrastructure across the continent, telcos have been quick to fill the void by pushing into the rapidly growing fintech space. With about 9 million registered mobile money subscribers in South Africa since its reintroduction in 2019, MTN South Africa’s chief financial services officer Bradwin Roper told reporters the group is largely focusing on the roughly 15% of South Africans that are still unbanked. 

MTN’s fintech arm has 16 different mobile money businesses and includes services such as its mobile money platform MoMo, insurance, airtime lending and e-commerce. After securing investment from Mastercard last month, CEO Ralph Mupita said the telco would continue to scout for opportunities to sell up to 30% of the business, which contributes almost a fifth of its total revenues.   

It started with a click 

South Africa-based mobile money users will now be able to send money to recipients across more than 10 African countries in real time if they are also registered users of the MTN service, Roper told Reuters.  

In partnership with Clicksendnow, a dealer approved by the South African Reserve Bank, MTN MoMo international remittances destinations are now available in, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Benin, Guinea Conakry, and Guinea Bissau, with cash collection points available at 41 locations in Zimbabwe. 

The telco also launched a virtual wallet for business owners that will allow them to accept payments via the app or QR code, a way to limit the use of cash by some of South Africa’s “spaza” shops, the informal stores that dot township corners.  

To make payments easier for such business owners, MTN also launched what it said are cheaper-to-rent point-of-sale devices that merge payments and other added services like airtime purchases into one device. 

About 80% of South Africa’s population visit spaza shops daily, and the spaza industry is valued at about 178 billion rand ($9 billion), Roper said. 

“The versatility of the MoMo Business Wallet is ushering in a new era of financial management for businesses of all sizes,” CFSO Roper told Tech Financials. “With this innovative tool, businesses can accept payments directly from customers for transactions on everything from prepaid services to shopping vouchers, completely fee-free.  

“Flexible cash-out options ensure easy access to funds, providing both convenience and security in financial management. It’s the ultimate in simplified financial transactions,” he added.  

“Within MTN stores, new point-of-sale devices will also allow users to make card payments at a lower service fee, giving customers the choice to pay for purchases with MoMo and receive cashback rewards. The storeowner benefits by not having a transaction fee deducted on these MoMo services,” said Roper. 

Another new service, MoMo Eazi, allows users to create a registered profile on the MoMo app that enables card payments without the complexities of a full registration process. The company also launched funeral insurance that allows customers to take out cover for either six months or 12 months with just one payment, instead of monthly debit orders until you die. 

Pictured: MTN South Africa’s chief financial services officer Bradwin Roper (left) with MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi (right).

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