MTN Group has hosted Africa’s first TM Forum Open API Spec Jam in Johannesburg, bringing together 130 technical experts from 21 companies across three continents.
The four-day event aimed to develop API specifications that address real-world integration challenges and support scalable digital services in African markets. MTN Group announced the event on Thursday.
Collaboration across MTN’s digital ecosystem
Participants included platform experts, architects, developers, and ecosystem leaders from telecom operators, fintechs, and digital service providers. Businesses within MTN’s ecosystem, such as Chenosis and Bayobab, played an active role, providing insights on developer enablement and infrastructure scalability.
The gathering emphasised the importance of open APIs in enabling cross-industry capabilities, particularly in areas such as distributed ledger applications, fraud detection, identity verification, and financial services integration.
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Co-development of eleven Open API specifications
The assembly led to the co-development of eleven Open API specifications which are ready for deployment. These APIs were influenced by real-world use cases, ranging from data integrity and AI accessibility to fraud prevention and customer onboarding.
The operating realities of the continent and the collective experience of those constructing and overseeing digital infrastructure throughout Africa served as the foundation for each specification.
“Africa’s digital future will be shaped by the standards we define today,” said Nikos Angelopoulos, MTN Group Chief Information Officer.
“Hosting the first Open API Spec Jam on the continent is an important step in ensuring those standards reflect African realities and are built for scale. This Spec Jam has shown what becomes possible when regional expertise meets global collaboration. It affirms our belief that open standards are essential to building the digital infrastructure our markets need to grow, integrate and adapt.”
Focus areas for API standardisation
The APIs specified during the Spec Jam focused on key areas where consistency and interoperability are critical to enabling digital services. These included digital identity, where standardised approaches can support more secure access to financial services; location data, which plays a role in improving emergency response, logistics and city planning; and lightweight AI models, aimed at supporting greater inclusion on basic mobile devices.
Other areas of focus included blockchain interfaces to strengthen data integrity and transactional trust, loyalty and engagement mechanisms to support more targeted customer experiences, and standards that could enhance the efficiency of 5G network management in diverse operating environments.
Highlighting regional involvement
The event underscored the importance of African involvement in shaping global technical standards. By contributing directly to the specification process, African developers and ecosystem leaders ensure the resulting APIs are relevant, practical, and suited to regional implementation needs.
This involvement guarantees that the solutions created will take into account both market demands and implementation realities, strengthening the link between standardisation and delivery.
This inaugural Open API Spec Jam in Africa served as an example of what happens when technical alignment and contextual knowledge come together.
Participants helped create the foundation for infrastructure that can confidently scale, adapt to local conditions, and change as new services are developed by cooperating to define common digital building blocks.
It represents MTN’s ongoing dedication to developing inclusive, open digital ecosystems that foster growth both within and outside of the continent.