South Africa-based portable point of sale (PoS) service provider Nomanini has signed an exclusive agreement with Ghanaian company Transactions Solutions (TranSol) to scale the numbers of its cloud-based PoS terminals in the West African country.
Nomanini has designed a rugged PoS terminal for informal markets where electricity is not always available, with the capability of selling thing such as airtime, electricity or insurance.
The partnership with TranSol signals Nomanini’s first scaled project commitment in West Africa, with the first batch of 100 pilot terminals having been deployed in January 2015 and a second, larger shipment is due to arrive next month.
The startup has been on an African expansionist push in the last year on the back of some impressive funding raises. Nomanini’s total raised capital is over US$2.3 million, with Disrupt Africa reporting in December the startup partnered airtime distributor StreetCred to facilitate rollout in Zambia, while in November it signed an agreement to launch in Namibia. Chief executive officer (CEO) Vahid Monadjem told Disrupt Africa in February Nomanini was seeking more funding to expand to more countries.
Chief commercial officer (CCO) Kuda Mushambi said the TranSol deployment marks further involvement in West Africa for Nomanini, with the company hoping to use it as a means of furthering its involvement in the region.
“Working with a listed company such as TranSol in Ghana is a great entry point for us into the West African region as a whole, and will allow us to more easily scale our product across not just Ghana and Nigeria, but also francophone Africa,” Mushambi said.
He said the latest partnership, as well as those already signed in other countries, offered validation of the Nomanini platform in informal markets, and proved it was not just a product for the South African market.
“We are a proudly South African company, and have seen great uptake at home, but we really feel our terminals can assist informal retailers across the whole of Africa. That respected local firms like TranSol feel the same and want to deploy Nomanini terminals in countries like Ghana is really validating for us and spurs us on as we look to expand our coverage further,” he said.
TranSol managing director Paul Jacquaye said the partnership would help his company cement its market leadership position by offering innovative ways for informal traders to receive payments.
“Our engagement with the mobile network operators indicates their strong desire to move to electronic recharge, a more economical and convenient way to sell PINs, and to gradually phase out scratch cards. Our new TranSol terminal is more suitable for deployment at informal locations including street vending,” he said.
