African money transfer firms thrive as pandemic spurs online remittances

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Having fled an economic implosion in his native Zimbabwe, Brighton Takawira was able to support his mother back home with modest earnings from a small perfume business he set up in South Africa.

Brighton Takawira uses the Mukuru remittance app which enables him to send money and groceries home to family in Zimbabwe from his home in Pinetown, South Africa, October 21, 2020. Picture taken October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Rogan Ward“I had to send something, even a few dollars,” said Takawira, though it meant sometimes going without bread. So he tried out an online remittance company on a friend’s recommendation.

“We saw an increase of transfers as the diaspora wanted to help their family,” said Patrick Roussel, who heads mobile financial services for the Middle East and Africa at French telecom company Orange - a dominant player in French-speaking Africa. “We’ve seen an influx of new customers, and we see them mainly coming to us from the informal market,” said Andy Jury, chief executive of Mukuru, the company Takawira now uses.Jury and other industry executives say that shift is likely to last as digital remittance services are typically cheaper, faster and safer than informal networks, which are difficult for governments to regulate.

Online remittance company WorldRemit reported last week that transfers to Zimbabwe via its service had doubled over the past six months. Remittance companies got an additional boost early on in the pandemic when African central banks reduced fees and loosened limits on digital transactions, to encourage the public to use digital services to facilitate social distancing.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

 

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