Tech Cabal (09/27/22) Tshiani, Noel K.

SamaPass CEO Bienvenu Hounwanou describes the African offering as "a solution that allows users to buy tickets to concerts, cinemas and other experiences from their cell phones with local payment methods such as mobile money, money transfer and bank cards." He explains that SamaPass is designed to navigate the dynamism of many African cities, which "often translates into cash transactions, sometimes endless queues and consequently, difficulty in accessing or sorting through all these experiences." The underlying idea, according to Hounwanou, "is to use a complete back-office for merchants and organizers to simplify and secure access to these experiences for users, regardless of one's mobile money operator or type of bank card." He says the country of Senegal has been particularly receptive to SamaPass, although "one main point that could be improved is the social protection of micro-entrepreneurs. This point is not specific to Senegal and concerns most countries where the informal sector is predominant. During the COVID-19 crisis, events were canceled and we saw how this accentuated the precariousness in which some event organizers already found themselves. But this is a broader public policy issue that needs to be addressed with a holistic approach."

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