IDT Corp Acquires African Mobile Transfer Firm Sochitel

The global communications services provider IDT Corporation had acquired a majority stake in Sochitel, a digital distribution platform for mobile top-up, electronic vouchers and other value transfer services.

Based in London and Lagos, Sochitel works with banks, financial service providers and mobile network operators across Africa.

“Sochitel’s FinTech platform empowers the continent’s leading banks to deliver digital, value-added services to over 60 million customers across Africa and supplies its services to corporate clients worldwide,” IDT said in a news release.

IDT says the acquisition will help it expand its digital offerings, such as mobile top-up and money transfers into Africa, while also supporting future products like bill payment and eVouchers.

The move “significantly expands and streamlines our distribution network in key African markets, broadens our mobile top-up platform with new digital services, and provides access to a significant new base of partners and clients as we continue to grow our global value transfer businesses,” said Emilio del Rio, senior vice president of prepaid services at IDT.

With more than 1.2 billion people and some of the developing world’s most energetic economies, Africa represents a significant opportunity for the mobile financial service sector to grow.

As PYMNTS reported earlier this month, mobile network operators (MNOs) in Africa have been at the forefront of the launch of telco-driven super apps, using crucial strategic assets such as pre-existing subscriber bases, merchant relationships and customer insights gleaned from the large amounts of data they compile.

Read more: 3 Telco-Driven Apps To Watch in Emerging Markets in 2022

IDT cites figures from the Global System for Mobile Communications that show Sub-Saharan Africa alone is home to half the mobile money services in the world and generates two-thirds of global mobile money transactions value.

“Increasing mobile penetration, a scarcity of traditional transaction infrastructure, and the region’s rapidly evolving mobile payments infrastructure are creating tremendous opportunities for financial service providers to unlock significant value,” IDT said.