MTN Uganda has opened its Mobile Money Access Programming Interface to third-party developers and paired the move with a $270,000 Startup Fund aimed at encouraging new payment products. The company says the initiative is meant to make mobile money integration easier for developers building web and mobile services.
The telecom operator said the API will be available online, replacing a manual application process that developers previously had to follow. It also said developers will be able to test products in a sandbox environment at no cost before going live.
Elsa Muzzolini, the General Manager, Mobile Financial Services at MTN Uganda, said the move was intended to support the local startup scene.
“This is an exciting development for the Ugandan start-ups ecosystem. Innovators will now be able to develop applications that ease the customer experience in terms of mobile money payments. We do hope that this move will spur innovation in the developer community around the country because this is the first time this is being done here.”
Wim Vanhelleputte, the MTN Uganda CEO, said the company’s approach in Uganda had changed over two decades and that opening the API was part of its push to operate as a digital company.
“It has been 20 years since we started operating in Uganda and our role in this economy has been evolving. Today, opening the Mobile Money API further emphasises our ambition of being a digital company. Ugandan developers now have the opportunity to build products that will enhance financial inclusion, improved customer experience when making payments and improve the movement of virtual money,” said Wim Vanhelleputte, the MTN Uganda CEO.
MTN Uganda said the startup fund will support participants in its innovation challenge series. The first event, the MTN Open API Challenge, was set to begin on 3 December 2018, with entries submitted through the challenge website.
Alongside the API launch, the company unveiled a Ugx310m high-speed internet package for The Innovation Village through the MTN Foundation. The package is intended to give young developers and innovators free connectivity as part of a youth empowerment drive.
MTN Uganda also said it would work with technology and innovation hubs across the country to train developers on how to use the platform. Registration for the free training programme was made available on MTN’s website.
