South Africa gets a super-app in VodaPay

Vodacom’s announcement that it is launching Africa’s first super-app, developed in partnership with China’s Alipay, promises to transform the financial services industry and give a boost to other sectors. 

Why it matters

Across Asia, super-apps – think WeChat, Grab, GoJek as well as Alipay – are widely used, bundling together logistics, commerce, social, and mobile payment platforms. While Vodacom’s move is aimed primarily at capitalising on opportunities in financial services, it also opens up new avenues for retail and entertainment brands in South Africa and the development of social commerce. Other mobile operators are following a similar path.

The details 

• Vodacom subscribers will be able to access a broad range of services including taking out loans, shopping online and making standard mobile payments.
• Retailers, including Massmart, are reported to be flocking to the platform in order to boost their mobile shopping presence. 
• While the super app will be available to South African customers, Kenyan partner Safaricom will use its M-Pesa mobile money service to offer more online retail and financial services in other markets such as Tanzania.

Key quote

“We see this super-app as a precursor to M-Pesa’s evolution, supporting accelerated growth across our financial services’ businesses and assisting us in connecting the next 100 million African customers so that no one is left behind” – Shameel Joosub, chief executive officer, Vodacom. 

Sourced from MSN News, Bloomberg