MFS Africa and MoneyGram develop cross-border P2P payments

Payment gateway MFS Africa is collaborating with MoneyGram to create better payment infrastructure on the African continent.

MFS Africa, which currently covers over 200 million mobile money recipients, was founded in 2010 to facilitate transactions to and from mobile wallets. It is hoped that partnering with MoneyGram, a global leader in P2P payments in more than 200 countries, will provide consumers in Africa with higher quality and more affordable payment solutions.

“MoneyGram is a prominent name in global payments, and we’re really excited to help them open up Africa to the international mobile money market,” commented Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa. 

“In Africa, mobile money has already been a massive driver of financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, but cross-border payments are inhibited. There’s a patchwork of different regulatory regimes to navigate, as well as the distinct technical infrastructure that each telco, money transfer operator and digital wallet uses.”

Creating commercial opportunities

The importance of establishing a strong, integrated and dynamic payments infrastructure cannot be overstated, particularly for developing countries like those in Africa. 

As Okoudjou alludes to, it is the first step for fostering both domestic and international economic cooperation and provides opportunities for communities to develop in the digital world.

McKinsey & Co published an article realising as much in 2014, yet the feasibility of developing ‘mobile money’ was still in question due to a lack of data on multi-region capability.

By combining its local knowledge with MoneyGram’s large-scale and mobile-first practical experience, MFS Africa hopes to finally realise the continent’s latent potential. Okoudjou believes that the demand for digital payments is strong and increasing all the time:

“Just in July, we processed 2.5 million transactions, and, with partnerships such as this one and our acquisition of Beyonic earlier this year, we are gearing up to make it easier for more consumers and businesses to transfer money within, into and beyond Africa.” 

Accelerating digital growth

Kamila Chytil, COO of MoneyGram, added that this partnership recognised the emerging prevalence of digital payment solutions in the post-COVID-19 world. 

"Our digital business has seen amazing growth over the past several years, and these new partnerships are important milestones as we execute our strategy to accelerate digital growth by expanding access to mobile wallet capabilities.

"Customer demand for mobile wallets has increased significantly over the last few years and with the onset of the global pandemic, the launch of these strategic partnerships is more important than ever."