ABOUT THE WORK
Supporting African devs with access to MTN APIs
MTN has championed digital access within their markets for many years. Through their Platforms, Agility, Connectivity and Experience (PACE) Strategy they drive digital transformation through platforms, ecosystems, and services.
One of those platforms is the MTN API Development Portal and Application Platform, or “MAD API.” This SAAS platform allows developers across Africa to access MTN’s API’s and digital services and to test their capabilities. PlusNarrative has been developing MAD API with MTN since 2019.
CHALLENGE
MTN Group aimed to provide developers, large corporates, and entrepreneurs with easy access to MTN APIs and dev kits through an e-commerce portal.
PlusNarrative was tasked with developing the portal on the Drupal CMS system, providing analysis improvements and updates to the portal (in the form of code and content), and empowering the sales team to use the portal to onboard new users.
The PlusNarrative team was also tasked with optimising the portal according to data-driven insights, usability testing, and in-depth analytics on key metrics.
SOLUTION
To ensure that the platform catered to all the needs of real devs across Africa, we gathered extensive data about their requirements and desires. While the experience of our own developers using APIs came in handy, MTN also gathered insights from third-party developers about features they should include in the portal. Stakeholders from 13 different markets, various departments within MTN Group and MTN’s platforms – Chenosis, Bayobab, and MoMo were also interviewed.
We created a single well-organised catalogue with searchable metadata, to make APIs easy to discover. A sandbox environment was developed within the platform so developers could test API capabilities before introducing them to live environments. An approval process was developed to assist in moving APIs from the sandbox into production. The approval process also ensured that user applications created with MTN’s API products met specific standards before being introduced to the intended market.
To ensure onboarding was simple, easy, and beneficial, we created tutorials, guides, and clear documentation to support developers in getting started.
IMPACT
Development of MAD API is ongoing and several new features were launched in 2024, including important alerts and notifications for users, product discovery improvements to enhance the customer experience, an admin dashboard for managing teams of developers across the platform, and the integration of Microsoft Clarity for richer analytics and user behaviour insights.
The platform experienced significant growth in 2024. Users increased by 83% compared to 2023, bringing the total number of users to 16,023. The number of apps created by consumers using MTN’s APIs increased by 2,622 in 2024, growing by 20.8% to a total of 12,993. The number of products (APIs) available on MAD API grew by 154 in 2024, bringing the total number to 478. 196 teams were added to the platform in 2024, reflecting an increase of 11.3% and bringing the total number of teams to 677. With so many teams now active on the portal, we had to extend the management abilities of admins, enabling them to manage teams effectively.
We are excited to share more as new features are added and iteration continues!
LINK TO WORK
CREDITS
Brand/Client: MTN Group
Product: API Marketplace
Industry: Technology
Product Link: developers.mtn.com
Digital Company: PlusNarrative
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