MTN has launched a pan-Africa application programming interface (API) marketplace it believes will foster innovation and collaboration across developer and business communities.
The Chenosis marketplace will enable developers to tap into a spectrum of API products and services from across the continent, ranging from telecommunications, e-health, e-government, Internet of things, fintech, e-commerce, identity and authentication.
MTN says the Chenosis marketplace allows businesses and developers to publish their APIs so that other developers can discover and consume them.
“The marketplace also provides the tools for publishers to monetise and promotes their APIs by creating subscription plans and product bundles that developers and businesses can purchase.
“The portal has dashboards for publishers and consumers to track revenue and credit balances, view consumption analytics and API performance, and lots more,” it says.
Additionally, Charles Molapisi, MTN Group chief technology and information officer, says: “Chenosis is a separate brand and entity, and will have an arms-length relationship with MTN so that it remains open to all mobile network operators, fintech start-ups, payment service providers, mobile wallet operators, financial service providers, and more.
“We have exciting pan-African and international partnerships lined up to publish and monetise their APIs in the marketplace over the coming months. These partnerships will enable Chenosis to become the largest and most diverse developer ecosystem on the African continent.
“This is one of the ways in which MTN is investing in the emergence of an open African API ecosystem that is powered by African ingenuity and innovation.”
MTN says the power of the platform will be in the creation of mashup APIs, which will connect cross-industry APIs and facilitate innovation and the ability to build new services and new business models.
“Mashups are new product and service orchestrations created by developers from two or more existing APIs.”
The Chenosis marketplace will be open to the public from 10 August.
