Kenya: Safaricom & Onafriq partner to stimulate flow of remittances to Ethiopia

Safaricom has signed an International Money Transfer Agreement with Onafriq to help streamline remittance flows to Ethiopia.

Onafriq is a digital payments network, operating in 40 African countries. Safaricom, through its mobile money platform M‑PESA, provides individuals with financial services through a mobile phone.

Through the agreement, individuals within Ethiopia are able to receive remittances from different parts of the world through M-PESA. This is based on the authorization received from the National Bank of Ethiopia to start the remittance service in July 2023.

The incorporation of International Money Transfer capability into its offering allows M-PESA to tap into and leverage Onafriq’s network, connecting 500 million mobile money wallets and 200 million bank accounts.

Of this partnership, Paul Kavavu, General Manager at Safaricom Ethiopia, states: “Our goal is to make payments easier, and the incorporation of International Money Transfer services into M-PESA serves that purpose perfectly. Ethiopia generates more than five billion USD in remittances annually and this partnership will provide the Ethiopian Diaspora with an easy and fast formal channel to send money to their loved ones in Ethiopia.”

Nika Naghavi, Group Head of Growth at Onafriq, states that the partnership will directly stimulate the realisation of Ethiopia’s digital transformation strategy. The strategy, dubbed Digital Ethiopia 2025, places emphasis on enabling systems through digital transformation, of which digital payments form a crucial part. The country’s solution to this includes ensuring financial inclusion, innovation in the banking system and the adoption of innovative solutions.

“We have always believed that payments should be a simple process, as simple as a phone call – connecting individuals through increased access. The agreement with M-PESA Safaricom extends our reach in Africa even further and strengthens our position as the largest payment network on the continent. We are confident that this partnership will positively impact economic growth and the achievement of greater sustainable development goals,” says Naghavi.

source: hapakenya.com