Information and communications technology group MTN has partnered with payments technology company Flutterwave to enable Flutterwave business customers to use MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) as a payment method.

This means that businesses integrating Flutterwave in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia will be able to receive payments through MoMo, which provides consumers and businesses with an electronic wallet, enabling electronic transfers and payments, as well as access to digital and financial services.

The new mobile money partnership is expected to increase mobile money use and penetration in Africa to improve local economies and livelihoods and create opportunities for individuals and businesses across the continent.

Currently, Africa is experiencing an explosion in mobile penetration as smartphone adoption rises rapidly.

By 2025, it is forecast that the number of unique mobile subscribers in Africa will reach 500-million with subscriber penetration rising to 50%. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is responsible for more than 45% of the world’s mobile money accounts with the number of account holders exceeding half a billion by 2020.

As at June 2021, MTN’s MoMo had 48.9-million active users and 581 514 merchants.

“As we progress on our journey to becoming the largest fintech platform in Africa, we will empower millions of businesses to embrace e-commerce in our markets to accept digital payments from MoMo consumers,” said MTN Group chief digital and fintech officer Serigne Dioum.

“We believe this is an enabler to accelerating digitised payments in Africa. Building strong ecosystems through partnerships is central to our platform strategy and we will continue to invest in expanding the reach of our platform to consumers and businesses in Africa.”

Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola added that Africa has one of the highest growth rates for mobile money adoption and e-commerce in the world.

“It makes sense that we help provide a seamless payment method to support and ensure African businesses reap the full benefits of the e-commerce boom in the region. Our goal has always been to grow a new wave of prosperity in Africa by creating more avenues for businesses in Africa to accept payments. With this partnership, we can achieve this while creating endless possibilities for our customers.”

The new partnership will further expand on Flutterwave’s previous collaboration with MTN, beyond Uganda and Rwanda, with the potential of deepening adoption of digital payments and e-commerce in Africa within a sector that is expected to reach $29-billion by 2022.