April 22, 2016 ethelcofie

Cross-country mobile money usage in Africa

Some few years back cross-boundary/country remittances/ payment did not exist in any of the African countries. But currently, according to Christabel Ligami a journalist for East African Newspaper, countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan have adopted the cross-country money transfer via mobile money which was introduced by their central banks and communication commissions to help boost trading.

 

This initiative has seen some telcos already partnering in the move but at a higher rate which are likely to come down because other telcos are moving into the industry as well.

 

Vodaphone which owns 40% of Safaricom, signed a deal in April 2015 which gives M-Pesa customers access to seven African countries for mobile money transfers.

 

Earlier 2015, London-based Vodafone Group and South Africa’s MTN Group had also signed a deal that allowed their customers in East and Central Africa to transfer money to each other.

 

Millicom also announced it would allow its customers in Tanzania and Rwanda to send money to one another, says Christabel Ligami.

 

Also according to News Ghana, MTN Rwanda has also pioneered cross-border mobile money remittances service between Rwanda and Kenya

 

Meanwhile, MTN Group partnered with other money transfer platforms to help their customers transfer money directly to their Mobile Money Wallets in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

 

Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit says “For diaspora members sending money to friends and family back home in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, Mobile Money is a real game-changer. In Uganda, Mobile Money has already overtaken cash pick-up and bank deposits as the preferred method to receive money. We expect this trend to continue as MTN’s Mobile Money services reach millions of people without bank accounts, giving them access to a variety of life-enhancing financial services including savings and insurance schemes.”

 

Tigo customers in Rwanda now receive and send money via Tigo cash in Congo and vice versa to help make transfer easier for their customers. This is a partnership between Tigo Rwanda and Tigo DRC.

 

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