MTN Uganda in partnership with SIMFY, the developers of ayoba, has today launched a dynamic campaign dubbed ‘Life inside ayoba’ that will see ayoba users sending MTN MoMo free to fellow ayoba users for a limited period.

Introduced to the Ugandan market last year, ayoba, the African superApp, is the first ever instant messaging app that allows its users the liberty of sending cash digitally in-app while chatting, allowing them to seamlessly transact without having to drop their conversations.

The ‘Life inside ayoba’ campaign will enable all the ayoba users to send MTN Mobile Money for free in-app for a limited period while bringing together all the unique and exciting features of the ‘SuperApp’ including chat, voice and video calling, content sharing, music and playlists, gaming among others.

While launching the ‘Life inside ayoba’ campaign, Olivier Prentout, the Head of Customer Marketing for ayoba said that the App would appeal to many consumers as it provides digital solutions to the day-to-day life needs of the consumer in a practical yet affordable way.

“In building the ‘Life inside ayoba’ campaign we looked at what unites our African users.  With Ayoba, users can find everything they need in our all-in-one app.  This approach has brought us a textured and innovative campaign, and we are very proud of it. We are excited to launch the campaign with the full support of MTN” Prentout said, noting that app has been lauded for its unique and exciting practicality that it offers its users all they need in a single app that is available on both Android and iOS devices.

According to Prentout, 2021 has particularly been a fast-paced year for ayoba as the messaging app recently celebrated its second year of operation in May 2021. As of July 2021, ayoba had recorded 8 million monthly active users across the MTN Group with 400,000 active ayoba users in Uganda. Ayoba recently received the award for Best OTT Brand of the Year at the Marketing World Awards 2021.  This adds to the 2020 win for ayoba at the Africa Digital Award for Best Mobile Application in November 2020.

Susan Kayemba, the MTN Uganda Digital Services Senior Manager said that as an instant messaging App, ayoba underscores the goal of bringing more people into the digital world by providing them with affordable and simplified, yet inclusive and functional digital communication services.

“The ayoba app is perfect for the Ugandan market. It is vibrant and relevant and will appeal to everyone especially the youth.  Most importantly, ayoba is an all-in-one app that gives you chat and call options, music, games, news, sports and much more information at no data cost in addition to sending MTN MoMo free of charge using ayoba. We urge our customers to seize the Life inside ayoba campaign and relish the transformational all-in-one App that is ayoba” Kayemba said.

According to Kayemba, although ayoba can be used by anybody across all the networks, MTN customers are automatically allocated free data to use ayoba features.  Free data allocations can be used for all activities available in the app – including messaging, browsing, gaming, and listening to music, and customers can also download the app data free at www.ayoba.me. However, voice and video calls are excluded from the free data provisions.

As the ayoba platform continues to grow it supports 22 languages spoken across our markets while allowing users to safely send and receive encrypted messages, make voice, and video calls, share photos, videos and digital files. Users can access both entertaining and educative content available through 150 curated channels aimed at entertaining, educating, and empowering communities, as well as access to 200 games and stream free music from a wide selection of playlists.

Ayoba users now have access to a range of Micro-Apps ranging from Telehealth, live streaming services, and high-quality short videos, all available within the app. Micro-Apps such as FakeNews Checker allow subscribers to verify information and news while Survey54 allows people to get involved in surveys while earning some revenue. Other Micro Apps we are excited about include Live Scores for live football updates, live and on demand sports streaming and so much more.

To send Mobile Money for free using the ayoba app; go to chats and select the person you want to chat with. Select the attachment icon and then select the money icon. Go ahead and select Send MoMo and follow prompts. Enter the amount and reason. You Will be prompted to enter MoMo pin. The transaction will be completed, and you will receive an SMS notification.

Ayoba comes with an in-app assistant called ‘Aya’ to guide new users on how to use an instant messaging app. Aya appears automatically in everyone’s chats and can run a variety of interactive tutorials for key features within ayoba.

MTN Uganda has in partnership with SIMFY AFRICA, launched a SuperApp called ‘ayoba’ that will enable customers to access more affordable communication. ayoba is an instant messaging app available for now for Android devices and soon for iOS and works with any network. What makes it different from other messaging apps is that you can still chat (app to SMS and SMS to app) with anyone regardless of whether they have the ayoba app or not. MTN customers can reply to these messages on SMS even when they don’t have the app. ayoba lets you securely send and receive text messages, voice messages, videos, images, audio and other files with any of your contacts, using your mobile internet connection.  MTN customers will however not need any data (MBs) to use the service. They can use it free of charge up to 1GB of data, every month.

ayoba is a Pan African messaging platform, built by Africans for Africans. It speaks to the uniqueness and diversity of Africa as it is built with lots of features not available on any other instant messaging platforms. The app is available in some African languages, such as Swahili, Luganda, Hausa, isiXhosa, and Yoruba. It has end-to-end encryption to keep users’ data safe and ensure their privacy as they chat with their contacts regardless of their device or network. ayoba also has channels on sports, fashion, cooking, health, and games.

In addition to texting, customers can also initiate voice calls with their contacts, from within the ayoba app. The call will be charged as a standard voice call using the customers’ available airtime or minutes.

“We are keen to see Africa actively participate in the global digital revolution that is now being further accelerated by the Covid-19 situation. Innovation and the connectivity that goes with it, are particularly key to our digital proposition. They are both crucial in our contribution to the social and economic transformation of our country, said Wim Vanhelleputte, MTN Uganda’s Chief Executive Officer.

“ayoba is not just a new platform for people to chat with each other, it is a one of a kind digital platform that elevates the concept of instant messaging to a whole new level of instant and integrated connecting”, Wim he added.

This innovation, underscores MTN’s leadership ambitions in innovation as it helps Africa claim its place in the IM evolution.

Speaking about this partnership, David Gilarranz CEO of SIMFY AFRICA, “We are delighted to partner with MTN in Uganda and to offer its customers the ability to use the app with no data costs. In the coming weeks, our app will surely become a super app as we will be adding more features, like mobile money and music, as well as allowing other apps to co-exist in ayoba. We would like to take this opportunity to thank MTN Uganda for trusting our journey”.

Key features of the ayoba app include: