Tingo Mobile Plc signs a strategic partnership agreement with Visa

By Edlyn Cardoza

To further deepen its financial services in Nigeria and with ambitious expansions plans across Africa in the coming years, Tingo Mobile Plc recently announced it has entered into an agreement with Visa Inc., the world leader in digital payments.

Tingo is a leading Agri-Fintech business in Africa and has delivered a significant impact with its unique rural communities-based business model. The Company’s goal is to become Africa’s leading Agri-Fintech business, delivering significant social impact to many rural communities and providing a unique platform to enable financial inclusion, social upliftment, wealth creation and a sophisticated marketplace to promote its products to markets both domestic and international.

Tingo has over 4,000 women agents that support the rollout of its services in Nigeria alone. The Company remains very active in promoting women entrepreneurs to support gender equality and opportunity to this underserved market segment.  As of Dec. 31, 2020, Tingo had 9,344,000 subscribers. The Company is confident these figures will grow through its planned expansion across Africa and natural business progression in Nigeria.

With the strategic partnership, the unique African Agri-Fintech company will drive greater adoption and an increase in financial services offered, especially digital payments, on its platforms. Tingo operates two proprietary platforms: Nwassa, Tingo Mobile’s digital agri-marketplace platform that better connects African farmers with other players in the agricultural value chain; and Tingo Pay, its in-house payment platform was recently made available to the general public.

“We are delighted to partner with Visa, the leading Company in the global financial services sector. Visa has the mission of connecting the world to secure payment networks and enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive, which aligns with Tingo’s mission,” said Dozy Mmobuosi, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Inc., the parent company of Tingo Mobile Plc. “With this agreement, Tingo Mobile will be able to issue Visa cards (both physical and virtual) to users on Nwassa and Tingo Pay.”

Mmobuosi also highlighted that Visa would be pivotal to the expansion plan of Tingo Mobile across other African markets and beyond. In addition to enabling the issuance to and usage of Visa cards for users on Tingo Mobile’s platforms, Visa will also be providing technical support toward enabling payments functionalities.

Along with Tingo’s goal to increase financial inclusion in Africa, a vital aspect of the partnership is centred around financial education. Tingo and Visa will work together to provide knowledge and learning tools to communities, increasing financial literacy and leading to greater financial and economic independence across the continent.

“Partnerships are fundamental to Visa’s business model, and the expansion of our strategic partnership with Tingo Mobile is another example of how collaboration can help our clients deliver improved customer experiences,” said Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Head of Products and Solutions for Visa Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Whether it is changing the way people invest, manage money, receive loans or send real-time payments to friends and family, Visa is a natural partner for fintech companies, providing them with new ways to reach their customers through Visa’s vast network and global scale.”

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that VISA announced its acquisition of Currencycloud, the cross-border payments platform provider. VISA initially announced it would acquire Currencycloud at a valuation of $963 million in July of this year.