Web3 startup Fonbnk has partnered with merchandising firm Tanda to launch a digital airtime trading marketplace, targeting 40,000 agents on a decentralized platform.

The partnership will allow Tanda agents in east Africa boost their revenue streams by buying and selling prepaid airtime for profit on Fonbnk’s distributed exchange, an indicator of the rising stature of decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions in the region.

“This breakthrough approach enables DeFi for practical, real-world applications and can potentially transform the fintech landscape,” said Geoffrey Mulei, co-founder and CEO of Tanda in a statement on April 12. Fonbnk is the web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to obtain cryptocurrencies by exchanging their mobile airtime.

The collaboration will potentially unlock a market that is largely underexplored, and allow thousands of airtime retailers to supplement their income by contributing in the growth of the Web3 industry in the region from the basic level.

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

Uniswap is one of the most popular decentralized crypto exchanges, which employs a set of smart contracts to execute trades on its exchange, and also known as the leading DeFi project.

Fonbnk says it has recorded “nearly 4000% year-over-year growth of new wallets with a greater than 300% increase in direct revenue,” having closed a recent funding round led by pan-African Web3 venture fund Adaverse. It now targets to generate a gross merchandise value of over $100 million across sub-Saharan Africa.

-Edited by Shigeru Sato