Microsoft 4Afrika and Skrill announce their marketing alliance to launch a new e-commerce portal. By integrating with mobile network operators (MNOs), the portal enables Africans to use their mobile wallets to buy from global internet brands, access free educational content and use Microsoft software.
This new form of partnership between mobile payment systems, network operators and merchants is the first of its kind in Africa and was announced at the 11th annual AfricaCom conference. The portal will be fully live by December 2014.
Nilesh Pandya, SVP of emerging markets at Skrill, commented:
“Africa is urbanising faster than any other continent, with cities enjoying strong levels of wireless and data coverage. It has the world’s most youthful populations and we know that it is the younger generations that are often first to embrace technology. Disposable incomes are rapidly increasing, making discretionary spend on e-commerce an immediate reality. These conditions deliver the perfect storm for a massive surge in consumer demand for digital payments. “However, a high percentage of Africans remain unbanked and so have no means of paying for global online brands. Even banked Africans often find that global online merchants are reluctant to serve these markets for credit and debit card transactions due to perceived fraud risks.”
