Commenting on the partnership with Ripple, Dare Okoudjou, founder & CEO at Onafriq, said the deal is the first step towards the implementation of the company’s crypto strategy.
The leading blockchain payment company Ripple has secured a partnership with Onafriq, one of the top mobile payments companies in Africa, to expand the capabilities of its remittance services and foster smoother cross-border transactions within 27 countries in the region.
The collaboration between Ripple and Onafriq is expected to streamline cross-border transactions, providing a faster, more efficient, and cost-effective solution for international money transfers. The move is set to accelerate financial inclusion and strengthen connectivity within the African financial landscape.
Ripple Broadens Remittance Services with Onafriq Partnership
The company unveiled its partnership with Onafriq during the just concluded annual conference, Swell, held in Dubai, noting that it will also extend the payment services across the shores of Africa to several Gulf nations, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
To achieve this goal, the company said that Onafriq will use Ripple Payments, Ripple’s technology for making crypto-enabled payments, to create three fresh connections for payments between Africa and other parts of the globe.
According to a press release on November 7, people who use PayAngel in the UK, Pyypl in the GCC, and Zazi Transfer in Australia can now make speedy and cost-effective remittances and business payments to recipients in 27 countries across Onafriq’s pan-African network1.
“Connecting our partners PayAngel, Pyppl, and Zazi Transfer with Onafriq over Ripple Payments will bring the benefits of faster and more cost-effective cross-border payments to individuals seeking to send money into Africa from around the globe,” said Aaron Sears, senior executive at Ripple.
The First Step in Crypto Strategy
Commenting on the partnership with Ripple, Dare Okoudjou, founder & CEO at Onafriq, said the deal is the first step towards the company’s crypto strategy, which involves facilitating payments in various digital assets for customers.
“These connections are set to enable fast, secure, and low-cost remittances at scale between Africa and the rest of the world and represent a bold first step for our crypto strategy to leverage blockchain technologies to amplify our impact on people and businesses on the continent.”
According to him, the company aims to make cross-border payments easy and efficient for African people.
“Our mission is to make borders matter less when it comes to payment within, to, and from Africa. We are advancing this mission through our partnership with Ripple, which is already enabling new types of connections with fintechs such as PayAngel, Pyppl, and Zazi Transfer,” said he.
The mobile payment company, previously known as MFS Africa until early November, rebranded itself following the acquisition of Global Technology Partners, a US-based mobile payment software developer, in June 2022. The company explained that the name change was necessary because “MFS” is a registered trademark in the United States.
Earlier this year, Onafriq also finalized a deal with Western Union, focusing on facilitating cross-border transactions just like Ripple.
At present, Onafriq boasts the most extensive mobile money network throughout Africa, at a time when mobile money plays a crucial role in promoting financial inclusion and enhancing access to financial services across the continent.
The company’s payment hub links over 500 million mobile wallets in 40 African nations. It operates more than 1300 payment routes within the continent, supporting seamless cross-border transactions and promoting regional payment connectivity.
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