Simfy Africa
MTN Group's music-streaming subsidiary, built from the 2012 Simfy Africa streaming service and now tied to MTN's Ayoba super-app.
- Based in
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Website
- simfy.africa
Simfy Africa (Pty) Ltd is a Johannesburg-headquartered music-streaming technology and licensing vehicle, operating as a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN Group. It began in 2012 as the African arm of the German streaming service Simfy; after the German parent entered liquidation in 2015, MTN Group acquired Simfy Africa outright, a deal confirmed in MTN’s 2018 Integrated Report and a 15 November 2018 company announcement.
Under MTN, Simfy Africa built the consumer-facing MusicTime! app, launched in South Africa in December 2018 and later rolled out to Nigeria and Rwanda, letting users buy streaming time in short bundles rather than paying a monthly subscription. MTN’s FY2024 Annual Financial Statements list Simfy Africa as a wholly owned subsidiary, held through MTN International (Mauritius) Limited. The entity’s current public-facing work sits under MTN’s Ayoba super-app, and its site now carries MTN Digital Services branding alongside Ayoba’s social accounts.
Ownership: wholly owned by MTN Group Limited (JSE: MTN) since the 2018 acquisition.