Ayoba, the MTN-owned African super app, has reached a significant milestone: 35 million monthly active users across the continent as of December 2023, according to the telecoms giant.
This impressive growth, South Africa’s MTN Group said, is attributed to several factors, including a focus on user experience, a variety of content offerings, and expansion into new territories such as Kenya, Egypt, Mali, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Botswana.
“Empowering connections, fostering innovation, and charting the course for a digital future, ayoba is more than an app – it’s a transformative journey. Like the continent itself, ayoba has been resilient, dynamic, and forward-thinking. As we reflect on the milestones of 2023, it’s clear that our dedication to innovation and user-centricity has propelled ayoba to new heights. With gratitude for the past and a vision for the future, we embarked on 2024 with a steadfast commitment to continuing to evolve ayoba delivering enriched experiences for its growing user base in Africa. Our focus remains unwavering on empowering communities, driving innovation, and building a sustainable ecosystem for long-term growth, ayoba is not just an app; it’s a testament to the power of connectivity,“ Selorm Adadevoh, MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, said.
MTN also revealed that, “Messaging has always been a core focus for ayoba. Following on the successful re-engineering of the messaging module in 2023 which included a design and features refresh; ayoba will turn its attention to commercial features in 2024. This includes the introduction of business accounts with related support and a suite of business-oriented features.”
According to a report, user engagement has been strong across the app’s features. Music streaming, for example, saw a massive increase with over 600 million streams in 2023 through ayoba’s popular playlist service, powered by Boomplay. Messaging improvements and the introduction of a user-friendly “Explore” landing page were also key drivers of growth.
Looking ahead, the owners of ayoba are excited about the super app’s journey for 2024. “We are very proud of our achievements in 2023, and we have a lot to look forward to in the coming year. We begin the year with a strong offering for Football fans including multiple daily news updates, games, themed playlists to name a few,” Burak Akinci, ayoba’s CEO said. “As we move into the year,” he continued, “our product and content teams have many updates coming across Messaging and Groups, User Stories, Music, Games and more. Our focus in 2024 will extend to the B2B front, introducing features to benefit our partners and leverage our growing ecosystem and traffic.“
Ayoba is also expanding its business offerings. In 2024, it will introduce features to benefit partner businesses and leverage their growing user base. This includes new advertising options to capitalise on user engagement and partnerships with established brands like Cadbury’s and Chappies.
In terms of content, MTN revealed that ayoba has secured partnerships with international NGOs and local providers like Dycoco, bringing more French comedy to the platform. Users can also expect more podcasts, playlists, educational content, sports news, and short-form videos in the future.
Ayoba is set to introduce a communications API, new payment partners, and improvements to its partner portal. Additionally, the “Discover” page offers curated services and increased traffic for partnered businesses.
MTN also revealed that, “Messaging has always been a core focus for ayoba. Following on the successful re-engineering of the messaging module in 2023 which included a design and features refresh; ayoba will turn its attention to commercial features in 2024. This includes the introduction of business accounts with related support and a suite of business-oriented features.”
What’s inside ayoba?
MTN describes ayoba as an “all-in-one app that allows you to chat, call, read, play, and listen to music.” MTN subscribers who use the app can interact with others even if they do not use the app or are not subscribed to MTN’s service. The app is also an open platform that allows third party content. On the entertainment side, Ayoba offers music streaming powered by Boomplay, news channels to keep you informed, and games to keep you occupied through micro app channels.
