Pan-African operator MTN Group and technology giant Microsoft have announced an ambitious strategic alliance agreement to, as they put it, “accelerate digital and cloud transformation working towards a shared vision of driving Africa’s growth”.
The agreement, says MTN, is in support of its strategic intent of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress to support governments, businesses of all sizes and customers using the versatility of Microsoft platforms, solutions and capabilities to accelerate value creation.
The agreement centres on transforming and modernising MTN’s communications and technology infrastructure together with harnessing capabilities – and building the largest and most valuable platform business with a clear focus on Africa.
The two companies will develop joint go-to-market plans across the major markets where MTN operates to serve the digital transformation ambitions of African enterprise customers. Microsoft will invest in skilling MTN Group resources to drive focused selling of Microsoft’s products and cloud services in Africa.
The partnership includes ongoing knowledge-sharing, innovation and growth opportunities. Joint initiatives will be in areas such as digital education, micro-SME digitisation, fintech and gaming.
The partners will also execute a carrier agreement which will position MTN as a major provider of terrestrial connectivity to support Microsoft’s Africa-based expansion plans.
