Points Africa is set to debut Ghana’s first cross-brand loyalty rewards platform in mid-June, bringing together some of the country’s most recognizable consumer brands under a single digital points system.
The new venture, backed by a network of partners including Star Oil, Melcom, Jumia, Uber, Glico, MTN, and others, aims to allow consumers to accumulate and redeem points across various everyday spending categories—from fuel and groceries to insurance and online retail.
“What we’re doing is offering consumers value for their everyday spend,” said Andrew McBarnett, Chief Executive Officer of Points Africa. “Right now, people aren’t really rewarded for things like shopping, fueling up, or ordering food. We’re changing that.”
Rather than someloyalty schemes that tie users to a single brand, Points Africa’s app-based platform creates a unified ecosystem where customers can earn rewards at one company and redeem them at another. The idea, McBarnett explained, is to pool popular local businesses and provide mutual value for both consumers and partners.
The model resembles global schemes like Nectar in the UK or AirMiles in Canada, where users earn points across multiple sectors and vendors. Drawing on this international experience, Points Africa’s board includes advisors from those markets.
According to McBarnett, customers will be able to see partner offers directly in the Points Africa mobile app, available on both Android and iOS.
“You’ll be able to earn, for example, three points per cedi spent at Star Oil or one point per cedi at Melcom,” he said. “All of these offers are transparent within the app.”
Participation is designed to be seamless. Aside from the Points Africa app, the platform is integrated with MTN Mobile Money (MoMo), enabling users to earn and redeem rewards directly at the point of sale using MoMo. Future partnerships with local banks are also on the horizon, the CEO disclosed.
On the business side, the model offers brands the opportunity to tap into each other’s customer bases, helping to drive acquisition, retention, and engagement across industries.
“It’s not just value for consumers,” Mr. McBarnett said. “Our partners are networking and sharing access to customers they might not have otherwise reached.”
Point values may vary slightly across brands, but an internal calculation system ensures consistency and fairness for redemptions. Registration requires only a phone number, streamlining the onboarding process.
Managing Director Samuel Quansah emphasized that the system is designed to accommodate high-value, aspirational purchases. “Let’s say you’ve seen a GH¢10,000 television at Melcom,” he said. “If you’ve earned enough points across the network—say from insurance, fuel, or groceries—you can pool them together and redeem for that TV.”
Given that the country’s digital economy grows, Points Africa hopes to ride the wave of mobile adoption and integrated commerce.
“We’ve seen this work in other markets,” McBarnett said. “Now we’re combining global best practice with local innovation to bring reward-based value to everyday Ghanaian consumers.”
The official rollout is slated for mid-June.
