In a scheme called Macye Macye, MTN Rwanda in collaboration with the Bank of Kigali and data analyst Intelligra are providing smartphones on credit to Rwandans who cannot afford to acquire smartphones with ready cash.
Under the unique device financing scheme, MTN provides the customer data and the mobile money footprints, Intelligra analysis the data and designs algorithms to determine who qualifies for loans and how much they qualify for and Bank of Kigali prefinance the device for the customer to pay back in installments over one to two year using their mobile money wallets.
So far, the scheme has benefitted over 114,000 MTN Rwanda customers, comprising of 84,000 men and 29,000 women with over 19 billion Rwandan Francs in smartphone loans given out already.
Also built into the scheme is a sustainability plan to enable customers to be able to acquire their own phones by the time they finish paying for their first one.
Macye Macye is MTN Rwanda’s way of taking advantage of the enabling environment created by the Rwandan government, under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, that allows telcos to create affordable schemes for Rwandans in a practical and pragmatic effort to bridge the digital gap in that country.
It is the same enabling environment that made it possible for Airtel Rwanda to collaborate with the co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Netflix, Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr to provide Rwandans with 4G smartphones worth less than $20, plus very affordable data packages.
Techfocus24 caught up with the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Rwanda, Saint Doe-Tamakloe and explained the rationale for Macye Macye, how it works and what measures MTN is putting in place to sustain the scheme and ensure it realises its full potential with minimal risk.
Watch the full interview below:Â
