Fonbnk and Tanda partner up to bring innovative DeFi applications to Africa

Kenyan web3 platform Fonbnk has partnered with Tanda to launch a first-of-its-kind airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of 40,000 agents.

Fonbnk is a web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to easily obtain cryptocurrency assets by exchanging their airtime credits. Meanwhile, Tanda claims to be one of the largest independent agent and merchant network platforms in East Africa to launch a first-of-its-kind airtime trading marketplace across its network of 40,000 agents.

According to a statement shared with TechCabal, through the partnership, Tanda agents and vendors across East Africa can act as airtime ‘market makers’ and access new revenue streams by buying and selling prepaid airtime for profit on Fonbnk’s distributed exchange.

“Tanda’s partnership with Fonbnk has the potential to be a game-changer, particularly in terms of driving user growth and monetisation. What’s especially exciting about this collaboration is the innovative bridge protocol developed in partnership with Fonbnk, which converts prepaid airtime to digital dollars — a first in the industry. This breakthrough approach enables DeFi for practical, real-world applications and can potentially transform the fintech landscape. I’m thrilled to be a part of this partnership and look forward to the opportunities it presents for both Tanda and Fonbnk,” said Geoffrey Mulei, Co-Founder & CEO of Tanda.

Fonbnk also claims that the collaboration with Tanda marks a significant financial inclusion breakthrough on the continent as it allows tens of thousands of retailers, agents, and micro-entrepreneurs to supplement their income by participating in the web3 economy, regardless of their banking status.

“Picture the potential impact of combining mobile money platform M-Pesa with decentralised finance automated market maker, Uniswap. That’s exactly the groundbreaking solution that Fonbnk has developed, and it could have the power to revolutionise financial inclusion throughout Africa,” said Christian Duffus, Co-Founder & CEO of Fonbnk.

Fresh off of its seed extension round —on the back of nearly 4000% year-over-year growth of new wallets with a greater than 300% increase in direct revenue—Fonbnk claims to be on track to generate over $100 million in GMV as part of its unique Web3 on- and off-ramp partnerships across all the leading Sub-Saharan African economies.