About this episode

The episode concludes the conversation with Tito Alai about the origins of Celpay and Celtel's expansion in Africa and the Middle East.

The final part of my three-part conversation with Tito Alai begins with one of the most important and least widely understood stories in African technology: the origins of Celpay. According to Tito’s first-hand account, Celtel’s mobile-money journey began with market research in Zambia. The company noticed that airtime purchased in one city was often activated in another. People were already finding ways to support relatives, employees and business partners remotely. Me2U made it possible to transfer airtime directly from one user to another. The next insight was even more significant. Recipients were sometimes exchanging that airtime for cash or goods. In a hyperinflationary environment with limited access to conventional banking and card infrastructure, airtime had become a proxy for money. Tito explains how Celtel attempted to formalise that behaviour through Celpay and why the company eventually sold the business to focus resources on the rapid expansion of its core telecommunications network. The episode then moves into Celtel’s entry into Kenya and Nigeria, including the complexities of growing through acquisition rather than building every operation from the ground up. The…

People in this episode

Host: Moses Kemibaro

Guest: Tito Alai

Topics covered

• innovation
• mobile money
• telecommunications
• business acquisition
• African technology
• Celtel history

Keywords

• Celpay
• Celtel
• mobile money
• telecommunications
• Zain
• MTC
• Africa
• Middle East
• acquisition
• innovation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Celpay, Celtel, MTC, Zain

Places: Africa, Middle East, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria

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