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Pan-African operator MTN Group is set to host the first metaverse concert  in South Africa’s Ubuntuland on 30 November 2022.

The MTN Group’s presence in the African metaverse will be known as altMTN.

In February this year, MTN Group became the first African company to purchase land in Ubuntuland with a vision to create dedicated environments for offering unique immersive experiences for its customers.

“altMTN allows us to further support our ambition to lead digital platforms and support African innovation, and will, over time feature live events, shopping, gaming and learning,” says Bernice Samuels, Executive: Group Marketing at MTN Group.

The company will leverage its partnership with The Mic: Africa, a multi-platform music competition, to host Africa’s first virtual music concert in the metaverse to drive awareness and adoption of this new space.

“Many people still see the virtual worlds and environments as confusing and inaccessible, and so we are very proud to bring the altMTN experience to market in a way that can be accessed via mobile, tablet, PC or VR handset,” Samuels says. “For our launch event, we will be running a competition with our customers, giving them a chance to win exclusive tickets to the concert.”

The choice of a concert is by no means coincidental. “We believe that by tapping into a key passion on the continent, namely music, we can actively draw our customers into the environment to not only experience it first hand, but also to help us to improve altMTN as this developing technology increasingly interconnects and matures, to unlock the full benefits for our customers.”

So is this merely a short-term promotional gimmick? Apparently not. Analysis Group estimates that the Metaverse could contribute $40 billion to sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP by 2031. The Metaverse, it is hoped, will provide African brands with significant opportunities to tell unique stories in engaging ways.