IDT Acquires Sochitel

IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), a global provider of fintech, cloud communications, and traditional communications services, announced today that it has acquired a majority stake in Sochitel, a global hub and digital distribution platform for mobile top-up, electronic vouchers, and other value transfer services.

Headquartered in London and Lagos, Sochitel has a deep footprint across Africa interconnecting Mobile Network Operators, banks, and financial service providers. Sochitel’s fintech platform empowers the continent’s leading banks to deliver digital, value-added services to over 60 million customers across Africa and supplies its services to corporate clients worldwide.

IDT and Sochitel will leverage their combined capabilities to expand the reach of IDT’s current digital offerings, including mobile top-up and money transfers into Africa, and to support future offerings including bill payment and e-vouchers.

Emilio del Rio, Senior Vice President of Prepaid Services at IDT, said, “Our combination with Sochitel significantly expands and streamlines our distribution network in key African markets, broadens our mobile top-up platform with new digital services, and provides access to a significant new base of partners and clients as we continue to grow our global value transfer businesses.”

Jerry Ejikeme, CEO of Sochitel, said, “We are delighted to join the IDT family. Africa is enjoying unprecedented growth while pacing the world in the adoption of digital fintech solutions. Combining our strength and depth in the African market with IDT’s distribution capabilities positions us for significant expansion as we further integrate Africa with the global marketplace.”

Shmuel Jonas, CEO of IDT Corporation, added, “We are already in advanced stages of our effort to fully integrate Sochitel’s platform. Looking ahead, we intend to provide a seamless financial and digital services hub for African consumers that will enable our commercial partners worldwide with powerful tools to serve diverse African markets.

Africa, with a population of over 1.2 billion and some of the developing world’s most dynamic economies, represents a significant growth opportunity for the mobile financial service sector. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), Sub-Saharan Africa alone is home to half of the world’s mobile money services and generates two-thirds of global mobile money transactions value. Increasing mobile penetration, a scarcity of traditional transaction infrastructure, and the region’s rapidly evolving mobile payments infrastructure are creating tremendous opportunities for financial service providers to unlock significant value.

SOURCE: AGENCIES