Johannesburg: AfricUpdate – News Desk
MTN South Africa has officially launched a strategic partnership with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) aimed at modernizing the country’s transport infrastructure. The initiative will initially focus on Gauteng, South Africa’s economic hub (home to over 35,000 of South Africa’s nearly 190,000 taxis), leveraging digital innovation to enhance safety, digitize operations, and support small and medium-sized enterprises as well as marginalized communities.
Speaking on the launch, MTN General Manager for SME, Nkosi Kumalo, emphasized the scale and potential of the collaboration: “Today we are making moves in finalizing and actually launching the strategic partnerships that we have with SANTACO. What we are really trying to do here is use the power of the numbers to create a business that is sustainable and that can help small businesses operating within the industry. Using our platforms, including fintech and enterprise business solutions like IoT, we are committed to making this happen.”
Victor Dlamini, Regional GM for Gauteng, highlighted the significance of SANTACO in the transport ecosystem: “SANTACO is a taxi industry big player. They transport one of our biggest contributors from a customer point of view, the commuters who use our products daily. This partnership allows the industry to communicate more efficiently, be innovative, and become more digitalized. Most importantly, it benefits operators, drivers, and SMEs, promoting economic inclusion.” Through this collaboration, MTN and SANTACO aim to transform the taxi industry by enhancing safety, digitizing operations, and empowering small businesses and marginalized communities across South Africa.
