MTN Fintech has highlighted its efforts to integrate local farmers and entrepreneurs into the digital era while intensifying the fight against mobile money fraud.
During a stakeholders session held at the MTN Headquarters at Ezulwini, the company highlighted how its evolving services were addressing digital economic needs, from safe transactions to digital tools that support enterprise growth.
MTN Fintech CEO Sam Shongwe applauded the role of farmers in sustaining Eswatini’s economy through local food production, while also acknowledging their growing use of digital finance to support operations.
“As a company, we truly appreciate the collaboration we have with farmers, as they are an essential part of the economy. Through the MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) platform, they can now easily transact, pay and receive funds without delays,” said Shongwe.
He added that as small scale farmers adopt mobile money for daily transactions, it became easier for them to run their businesses, participate in larger markets and reduce dependence on cash handling.
Shongwe did not shy away from addressing the challenges that continue to affect mobile financial platforms, particularly fraud linked to mobile money, such as the widely reported facata scams.
“We are seeing increasing reports of scams and this is a serious concern. We are, however, doing everything in our power to deal with the matter. We have partnered with the police to clamp down on these criminals. At the same time, we are learning how these scams evolve and educating our customers on how to avoid them,” he said.
He further explained that MTN Momo is also referencing with similar mobile money operators in other countries to stay one step ahead of scammers and introduce stronger security controls.
Meanwhile, MTN Eswatini Business Development Manager Lomkhosi Dludlu said the platform had expanded significantly since launching 12 years ago.
“MTN Momo started as a send money only platform. But over the years, we have added features such as bill payments and in 2018, we introduced full business integration to help companies collect payments and pay staff,” Dludlu said.
She revealed that MTN Momo now has more than 10 000 agents and 20 000 merchants across the country, making it one of the most accessible mobile finance tools for Emaswati.
Looking ahead, Dludlu said the company’s goal was to fully digitalise all payments by 2025.
