Ericsson targets 50% of mobile wallets in Africa

Swedish Ericsson AB, a leading manufacturer of 5G networks globally, is expanding a financial technology company that facilitates mobile payments in developing countries, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The platform is set to make standard financial services such as money transfers, withdrawals, and storage available to everyone including those who have no banking access. Microlending, insurance, and different merchant and online payment methods will also be available.

The company’s newly-appointed head, Michael Wallis-Brown, is targeting Africa as a key market for mobile financial services.

“We’re touching 10% of the market in Africa today, and we can get to 50%,” Wallis-Brown stated in an interview.

“That’s enormous growth for us.” He added.

Ericsson announced that it had extended its 10-year partnership with MTN Group Ltd., which is the largest mobile operator in Africa, with 63 million active users. According to Wallis-Brown, the shift to public cloud deployments has allowed “them to literally scale exponentially.”

Wallis-Brown further stated that the company has an “aggressive expansion plan” looking to expand into new markets, possibly including the US and Europe. However, he declined to provide information about his unit’s revenue or its business-to-business licensing model.