Popular blockchain payment platform has announced the launch of its crypto airtime top-up feature. Powered by a partnership with top mobile operators across Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania.
This is according to a blog post by Electroneum. The partnership will provide total coverage for both airtime and data for its subscribers in Africa.
Electroneum also confirmed this report via twitter. The tweet reads: “More than 300 million people in Africa can now top up with all major operators in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.[…]mobile top-ups are just the start of accessing a global digital economy.”
The blog post also revealed that ETN users in Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria can now instantly top-up airtime and data on their mobile phones. To enable this service, Electroneum is currently in partnership with 15 of Africa’s biggest network providers. The network providers include Africell, Airtel, MTN and Telecom in Uganda. 9Mobile, Airtel, Glo and MTN in Nigeria. In Tanzania, we have Airtel, Halotel, Smart, TTCL, Tigo, Vodacom and Zantel.
Electroneum’s Goal is mass adoption
CEO of Electroneum, Richard Ells had this to say about the recent launch,“We are pleased to announce the launch in these three African nations, where we see a clear opportunity to enable Electroneum users to top-up mobile airtime through a third-party provider of the major mobile network operators”.
He also pointed out that this is a major milestone in achieving the firm’s goal of mass adoption. His statement reads: “This is yet another step in our strategy to drive mass adoption.”
Electroneum is currently the only crypto that enables airtime top-up instantly from mobile phones. This service has also been recently introduced to Brazil, South Africa and Turkey. It turned out to be really successful in these countries. About US$30,000 worth of ETN top-ups was recorded in Brazil last month. I believe we should expect more expansion announcement from Electroneum.
There are currently almost 25 million mobile subscribers in Uganda, 198.4 million in Nigeria and 43.4 million in Tanzania. The three countries together have a total population of a little more than 300 million.
Why Africa?
The African countries are rich with a lot of untapped resources for Electroneum. The payment platform disclosed that its primary goal is to help wipe out financial exclusion using mobile apps on smartphones. Presently, there are approximately 60 million smartphone users in Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria. In 2018, smartphone subscribers were about 35 million in Nigeria, 17 and 7.5 million in Uganda and Tanzania respectively.
These nations also have a high percentage of unbanked people. According to World Bank statistics, 60% of adults in Nigeria do not have a bank account. Unbanked adults in Uganda and Tanzania, are approximately 77% and 81% respectively.
The African continent is the second-largest in the world, with a gradually recovering economy. The continent has a total population of over 1.3 billion, with an average age of 19.4 years. According to the UN, this gives the region a significant chance to benefit from economic development within a couple of years.
The younger generations in Africa are more tech-savvy and more receptive to change and new ideas. They are ETN’s main target during its full launch in 2020. The mobile-based payment platform will launch the global AnyTasks freelancer and TaskSchool free e-learning platforms alongside its full launch in Q1 of 2020.
Source: altcoinbuzz.io
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