Online money transfer service WorldRemit continues its rapid expansion in Africa with the launch of international mobile money services through a partnership with MFS Africa in five countries across the region
This launch brings the mobile money service of WorldRemit to five new countries via Airtel in Malawi and Niger, Orange in Madagascar, Vodacom in Mozambique, and MTN in Guinea.
Customers in more than 50 countries can now make instant, low-cost international mobile money transfers to 15mn accounts across the five countries.
Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa, said, “Our mission at MFS Africa is to bring down the costs of remittances into and within Africa, and we achieve that by leveraging the power of mobile money and digital payments.
“We are looking forward to growing our networks together to help reach more users with more affordable and accessible remittance services.”
Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa increased by more than 9.6 per cent from 2017 to 2018, reaching US$46bn, according to the World Bank. The region, however, is still the most expensive in the world to send money to, with an average cost of 9.3 per cent.
Andrew Stewart, managing director of WorldRemit for the Middle East and Africa, commented, “WorldRemit is committed to supporting financial inclusion across Africa by enabling the unbanked populations to receive money directly into their mobile wallets, without the need for a bank account. Our partnership with MFS Africa helps us accelerate our financial inclusion mission while expanding our footprint across the continent.”
“More than 90 per cent of WorldRemit transactions are authorised within 10 minutes and customers can track their money’s journey in real-time using our ‘Track your Transfer’ function,” he concluded.
