Ali Monzer, the outgoing Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) at MTN Uganda, says Uganda is the “Silicon Valley of mobile money”.
The term “Silicon Valley” refers to the area in which high-tech business has proliferated in Northern California, and it also serves as a general metonym for California’s high-tech business sector as well as a home to many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations, including the headquarters of more than 30 businesses in the Fortune 1000, and thousands of startup companies.
“When it comes to technology and innovation, our country (Uganda) is ready. Africa is ready,” said Monzer during a panel discussion on the latest “Trends Shaping Organizational Strategy and Innovation” organized by the Information Communication Technology Association of Uganda (ICTAU) at Protea Skyz Hotel on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The panel discussion including James Byaruhanga (MD, Roke Cloud), Ali Monzer (CTIO, MTN Uganda), Peter Muramira (Directorate of Investment at UIA), Rowena Turinawe (Head, Innovation & Digital Solutions, Cente Tech), and Ritah Kabanyoro (Country Director, Action Against Hunger) was moderated by Isabel Odida (Peering Manager, Gcore).
Mobile money
Mobile Money, introduced by MTN in 2009, has since become a game-changer in Uganda. It is a mobile payment system based on accounts held by a mobile operator and accessible from subscribers’ mobile phones. The conversion of cash into electronic value (and vice versa) happens at retail stores (or agents). All transactions are authorised and recorded in real time using SMS.
In 2008, a Ugandan software developer named Ronald Egesa of Mobitrix Uganda Ltd was reported by the leading newspapers to have developed the country’s first mobile phone bank which he called SmartCash.
MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) is Africa’s largest mobile money service available in 17 countries, powered by the Ericsson Wallet Platform. MTN MoMo has shown strong growth and leads the African mobile money market with 69.1 million active MoMo users, 1.3 million agents and 1.5 million merchants at the end of 2022.
“This is financial technology. Our country is ready when it comes to digital transformation,” noted Monzer, adding that the innovation has since boosted the financial sector.
“We should make sure every single organization or company is embracing digital transformation.”
Monzer, who will in April take up his new position as the Chief Executive Officer of MTN South Sudan, said technology innovation is not a luxury anymore, but a must although many companies have not embraced it.
“Uganda is the Silicon Valley of mobile money. When we started mobile money, I hosted some students from the U.S. They were wondering how we were doing it and they wanted to know more about mobile money. I told them that Uganda is the Silicon Valley of mobile money,” narrated Monzer.
Cloud space
He said at MTN, every day, they come up with a new idea, citing the current move to go into the cloud space.
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each of which is a data centre.
“We are not yet there but we aim to move our data to the cloud space,” he explained.
James Byaruhanga, the Managing Director of Roke Cloud, said there is a huge integration, especially in Fintech (financial technology) development.
According to him, in the late 90s, the excitement was having internet access. “There was a massive change with 3G network and cable fibres. So quick internet became normal.”
Byaruhanga said the internet cannot grow without a neutral data centre.
“The data center came into the equation but the content game is not quite here. So, that opens a conversation in the cloud space. Is data being generated nonstop, how do we keep it, and how do we make it functional for the greater good? Now we are trying to build a cloud so we can have an overall ecosystem.”
Byaruhanga, however, said the real challenge is that Uganda is such a young market and the market is ahead of the service provider.
“The biggest gap is the transformation of the people who are running these companies that are providing these services to actually catch up with the consumer.”
AI
Monzer also cited the importance of Artificial Intelligence (intelligence exhibited by machines, particularly computer systems, as opposed to the natural intelligence of living beings) which has become the new trend.
“We started our work on AI. You can interact with us but we aren’t there yet. There is a call centre that has no agent because we have an AI system. Before you call, we know why you are calling. We then address your problem with AI. That’s where we are heading and I’m not saying we are already there.”
5G
On digital transformation, Monzer said they have been accelerating connectivity ever since the launch of the 5G network in Uganda.
“Uganda is landlocked and our internet is sourced from Kenya or Tanzania. We are investing a lot in fibre.”
He went on: “We have also introduced the 5G network and as we promised the regulator (Uganda Communications Commission), 5G will soon be everywhere in Kampala. We have invested a lot in infrastructure.
Blockchain
He said the company is also venturing into blockchain technology.
A blockchain is a digitally distributed, decentralized, public ledger that exists across a network.
“We are trying to move some of the mobile money to blockchain technology. This is still in the pipeline,” concluded Monzer.
