MTN has launched Chenosis, a new pan-African API marketplace that will provide developers and businesses access to what the operator believes will be the largest library of open APIs published in Africa.

According to the operator, Chenosis will make available a range of API products and services, including telecommunications, e-health, e-government, IOT, Fintech, e-commerce, identity and authentication, payments and collections, location and more, from a single marketplace.

This marketplace allows businesses and developers to publish their APIs so that other developers can discover and consume them, MTN adds.

“The marketplace also provides the tools for publishers to monetise and promote their APIs, by creating subscription plans and product bundles that developers and businesses can purchase. The Chenosis Marketplace portal has dashboards for publishers and consumers to track revenue and credit balances, view consumption analytics and API performance and lots more,” the company explains.

MTN Group Chief Technology and Information Officer Charles Molapisi says: “Chenosis is a separate brand and entity, and will have an arms-length relationship with MTN so that it remains open to all mobile network operators, Fintech start-ups, payment service providers, mobile wallet operators, financial service providers, and more.”

The company asserts that the power of the platform will be in the creation of mashup APIs which will connect cross-industry APIs and facilitate innovation and the ability to build new services and new business models. Mashups are new product and service orchestrations created by developers from two or more existing APIs.

“We have exciting pan-African and international partnerships lined up to publish and monetise their APIs in the marketplace over the coming months,” says Molapisi. “These partnerships will enable Chenosis to become the largest and most diverse developer ecosystem on the African continent.”

MTN says Chenosis will be open to the public from 10 August 2020.