MTN Group has announced that its messaging platform, “Ayoba” has reached one million monthly active users.
Ayoba is an advanced communications application localised for the needs of African and Middle East consumers under an independent Over the Top (OTT) brand with unique features for MTN customers.
A statement from MTN and copied to the Ghana News Agency, the app supports many local languages spoken across the MTN markets including isiZulu, isiXhosa, Pidgin, Yoruba, Swahili, Hausa, French and English.
It said MTN, together with its partners, are driven to improve access to affordable communications to ensure that people in its markets could reap the social, economic and developmental dividends of being online.
“Ayoba underscores this goal to bring more people into the digital world by providing them with affordable and simplified digital communication services.”
Mr Rob Shuter, the MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We believe that our customers in Africa and the Middle East deserve a communication platform that expresses our unique voice, honours our rich identity through local languages, and addresses our customers' specific needs and challenges by offering a data-included offering for MTN users, Mobile Money transfers and locally relevant content via channels."
The platform which was launched earlier this year, the statement said, is now operational in eight MTN markets in Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Ayoba is also available across multiple markers on the Google Play Store and via the Ayoba website www.ayoba.me as on OTT offering.
As part of continuous efforts to enhance its offerings, Ayoba would be adding more features in future.
It is also working on building on open digital platform that would enable third party innovation to ensure that rich diversified experience on the platform is offered.
Mr David Gilarranz, the CEO of MTN Digital, said the open digital platform would also enable the company to deliver more value to its users, empower local developers and create local experience that are optimised for local communities.
Ayoba’s key features and offerings include ‘Local Languages’, ‘Chat Now’, ‘Security’, ‘Chat with Everyone’, ‘Channels’ and ‘Money Transfers.’
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a market operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to its 244 million customers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Source: GNA
