MFS Africa partners with Paga to connect Nigerian remittance market to the world

MFS Africa now connects mobile wallets across Africa and money transfer companies around the globe to Paga. MFS Africa and Paga announced today the launch of their partnership connecting Paga users and Nigerian bank account holders to remittance senders from around the world.

With this collaboration, anyone with a Paga wallet can receive transfers from millions of other mobile money users across Africa, or from any money transfer operator connected to the MFS Hub.
Nigeria received nearly $21 billion USD last year in remittances according to the World Bank. Over 30% of that amount was received from other countries in Africa, primarily neighbouring West and Central African countries. Intra-African money transfer is
expensive, with costs averaging 20 per cent of transfer amount, compared to global averages of 7 per cent.

Discouraged by high fees from the cumbersome formal banking and money transfer channels, many turn to informal channels that carry higher risk and uncertainty. Leveraging
mobile wallet technology and vast agent networks, MFS Africa and Paga seek to bring these costs down dramatically while increasing accessibility and transparency.

“Together with MFS Africa, Paga is linking millions of mobile wallet users and bank account
holders for seamless transactions across networks and across borders.” said Jay Alabraba, co-founder and Director of Business Development at Paga. “People typically think of remittances into Nigeria in terms of flows from Europe and the Americas, but there’s over $3 billion USD a year coming in just from the Nigerian communities in Benin, Niger and Cameroon – countries that are right next door to Nigeria.

By joining the MFS Hub, we make it easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to send money back home and we also enable them to pay directly for utility bills, goods and services in Nigeria. We look forward to growing our relationship with MFS Africa in the years to come. This is an important partnership for enabling seamless digital payment for Nigerians at home and abroad.”

Paga has made waves in Nigeria and headlines around the world for its innovative and disruptive payments scheme. In Nigeria, unlike most African markets, mobile network operators are not permitted to offer financial services. And although banking penetration is over20 per cent, there is still a strong need for alternative, simpler payment services and financial inclusion.