Browsing: remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa

• Cash transfer service M-PESA is eyeing a chunk of the remittances to Ethiopia which are estimated at $5 billion annually.
• Last year, the World Bank stated that the remittances flow to countries in sub-Saharan Africa reached $54 billion.
• Through a new M-PESA-Onafriq agreement, friends and relatives from 40 countries will now be able to send money directly to Safaricom Ethiopia M-PESA subscribers.

Safaricom Ethiopia is betting on remittances to grow cash transfer service M-PESA uptake in Ethiopia following an agreement with one of Africa’s largest digital payments network Onafriq. Through the deal, friends and relatives from 40 countries where Onafriq has a presence will now be able to send money directly to M-PESA subscribers in Africa’s second most populous country.

Through the agreement, individuals within Ethiopia will receive remittances from different parts of the world through M-PESA, based on the authorisation received from the National Bank of Ethiopia to start …