MTN Group, a leading telecommunications company operating across various African countries, entered into a strategic

alliance with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated $($ETI$),$ a pan$-$African banking group. This partnership was established in

$2018$ and aimed to provide innovative mobile banking and financial services to customers across Africa. The strategic

alliance between MTN Group and Ecobank focused on leveraging their respective strengths in telecommunications and

banking to extend financial inclusion and promote digital banking solutions.

Evaluate the strategic considerations that influenced MTN and Ecobank to form an alliance.