MultiChoice Group has announced a joint venture with Rapyd and General Catalyst to develop and launch an integrated payment platform for Africa. Based on the information detailed in the press release, the joint venture is set to operate under a new company entitled Moment.

Moment and what it means for the African payment landscape Moment provides expanded payment infrastructure for Africa-based businesses to help them collect and make payments increasingly easy, quick, and affordable in whichever manner is preferred by their buyers and suppliers. What is more, Moment is set to provide additional options for consumers to spend and save money in a wiser way, with the aim of the company being that of transforming the African payments landscape by making digital payments more accessible and reliable for domestic, cross-border, and global payments alike. Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO said that the company is looking forward to the venture with Rapyd and General Catalyst as it is set to address the need for an accessible and reliable payment platform for a multitude of small businesses and millions of consumers in Africa.

Per their statement, investing in the venture comes as a logical progression for the company, as it processes payments on a monthly basis from 22 million households throughout 50 countries in the region, adding that Moment fulfils its strategy to expand their ecosystem by investing in adjacent businesses that provide scalable services, underpinned by tech. Moment is set to consolidate the USD 3.5 billion in payments that the MultiChoice Group processes annually to expand options for subscribers and make payment processes efficient, as well as extend Africa’s most comprehensive payment network to both African and global businesses. Arik Shtilman, CEO of Rapyd said that Africa brings forth opportunities to expand the usage of digital payments, to drive cash payments to real-time digital payments, and to capitalise on the entrepreneurial drive of African businesses.

Adding on this, Adam Valkin, Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners advised that Africa represents one of the most ‘exciting opportunities’ for global investors, as the belief is that throughout the next 20 years, most of the world’s population growth is expected to take place in Africa, alongside increased urbanisation. As per the announcement, in the long-term, the plan is to offer the infrastructure for pan-African payments for the 44 million small businesses operating on the continent and to change the 90% of retail transactions currently taking place in cash into digital payments. Moment looks to enable increasingly accessible digital transactions to the 350 million consumers that are either underbanked or not banked at all, with some of its long-term service offerings including: Payments across over 40 countries in Africa through more than 200 locally preferred payment methods to collect, disburse, and manage risk. Driving adoption of PayShap, TCIB, NQR, and other real-time payment methods across all markets. Global-Africa trade for importers and exporters with virtual accounts in over 40 currencies and local payments in more than 130 countries. Payment tools, extensive inventory to sell and financial services for micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs. Providing consumers with payments, savings, and rewards.

Calvo Mawela further states that Moment provides MultiChoice with another opportunity to make a ‘meaningful contribution’ to the economic development of the African continent and believes it will play a key part in expediting cash-to-digital payments for all consumers and businesses while making the continent investment ready for global players by connecting payments from Africa to the world. .