Ericsson, MTN Team Up to Transform Digital Finance
Quick Reads:
- Migration completed in Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda
- API response times improved by up to 80%
- CPU and database load cut by up to 86%
- Cameroon rollout underway; Benin, Congo, and Zambia in discussion
- Move supports MTN’s Ambition 2030 fintech strategy
Millions of mobile money users across Africa are about to feel a difference, even if they never notice the technology behind it. Ericsson and MTN Group Fintech have announced the completion of the MTN MoMo mobile money platform upgrade, moving the service from an aging virtualized system to a modern, cloud native setup in four key markets: Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The upgrade, built on the Ericsson Fintech Platform, is more than a backend tweak. It’s a foundational shift meant to help MTN handle the surging demand for digital financial services across the continent without buckling under pressure. According to the companies, the results are already showing: API response times, the speed at which developers, merchants, and partners connect to the platform, have improved by as much as 80%. That’s a big deal for anyone building apps or services on top of MoMo, where every second of lag can mean a lost transaction or a frustrated customer.
Behind the scenes, the numbers are even more striking. MTN says the shift to cloud native architecture has cut CPU processing overhead and database load by up to 86%, freeing up resources and making the entire mobile money platform far more resilient. In an industry where downtime isn’t just inconvenient but can mean people losing access to their own money, that kind of stability matters.
This isn’t a one-off project either. Ericsson and MTN are already extending the same mobile money platform transformation to Cameroon, with talks underway to bring Benin, the Republic of the Congo, and Zambia into the fold. Some operating companies are even exploring a further leap to public cloud infrastructure.
Artemij Demidczyk, Acting Chief Technology and Information Officer at MTN Group Fintech, framed the upgrade as central to the company’s bigger ambitions, saying it advances their vision of building Africa’s leading digital financial platform through a cloud-native foundation that strengthens resilience and speeds up innovation.
On Ericsson’s side, Hossam Kandeel, Head of Mobile Money and Business Development for West and Southern Africa, said modernizing mobile financial infrastructure is essential for supporting the continued growth of digital financial ecosystems across the region.
The partnership between Ericsson and MTN Group Fintech goes back more than a decade, and this latest phase positions the mobile money platform to support MTN’s Ambition 2030 strategy, an effort to widen access to digital financial services for consumers and businesses across Africa in the years ahead.
