Instant transfers to Afrimoney wallets in The Gambia from over 200 countries 

Afrimoney has partnered with MoneyGram to enable easy remittances to The Gambia. With Afrimoney and MoneyGram connected, cash can be sent directly to the West African nation from more than 200 countries around the world. Transfers can be made through MoneyGram’s website and app or over the counter through MoneyGram’s global network of shops, post office and bank branches. Online transactions happen instantly, making the remittance process quicker than ever before.

Image: MOneyGram has a global network of shops and is also accessible at many post offices and bank branches worldwide

The partnership between Afrimoney and MoneyGram, which is powered by MFS Africa, is a big step forward for mobile money services in The Gambia. Globally, cash remittances to low- and middle-income countries amount to over half a trillion US dollars each year^[1]. Like many other countries in Africa, Gambia depends heavily on remittances. However, the process for Gambians to receive remittances has historically been complicated by a fragmented digital payments infrastructure and barriers faced by those overseas who are seeking to remit.

Afrimoney’s partnership with MoneyGram and MFS Africa creates a simple, quick and user-friendly process for sending money to The Gambia. Any adult in Gambia with an Africell sim card can self-register for an Afrimoney account on their mobile phone. Once registered, they can access their mobile money at Africell’s country-wide network of agents and shops, with no cash out fees. With international transfers now available (with no sending fees) through MoneyGram, Afrimoney users - and their friends and family overseas - have more control, flexibility, and opportunity to draw value from mobile money services.

“Remittances are among the most important applications for mobile money” says Andy Widmann, Afrimoney Group Director. “We want our Afrimoney platform to be simple and accessible. Our partnership with MoneyGram makes it easier for people around the world to send mobile money to The Gambia, thus making the service even more useful to our customers and giving them more financial opportunities.”

MFS Africa’s Executive Director for Mobile Network Operators, Nika Naghavi, said: “We are excited about this partnership with Afrimoney and MoneyGram. The Gambia is one of the most remittance-dependent countries in Africa, with remittances contributing close to 50% of the GDP. Through this partnership we are permitting the Gambian diaspora to easily and cost effectively send financial support to families, friends, and businesses back home. Joining forces with Afrimoney and MoneyGram will take us one step closer to our ambition of making borders matter less.”

Afrimoney is Africell’s mobile money service. It enables customers to send money to others, pay bills, and transact with a range of other products and services at home and overseas. Operating on a best-in-class mobile money platform and employing trained agents to provide deposit and withdrawal services throughout our markets, Afrimoney offers customers a safe, inexpensive, and broadly accessible tool for managing the finances of their daily lives.

[1] Source: World Bank

About MoneyGram

MoneyGram International, Inc., a global leader in the evolution of digital P2P payments, delivers innovative financial solutions to connect the world's communities. With a purpose-driven strategy to mobilize the movement of money, a strong culture of fintech innovation, and leading customer-centric capabilities, MoneyGram has grown to serve over 150 million people in the last five years. The Company leverages its modern, mobile, and API-driven platform and collaborates with the world's top brands to serve consumers through its direct-to-consumer digital channel, global retail network, and embedded finance business for enterprise customers. MoneyGram is also a leader in pioneering cross-border payment innovation and blockchain-enabled settlement. For more information, visit www.moneygram.com.

About MFS Africa

At MFS Africa, we believe that making a payment should be as easy as making a phone call. We believe that access is the currency with which Africans can overcome barriers and injustice and render borders insignificant. We give our partners access to a borderless world of opportunities, connecting enterprises, mobile money operators, money transfer operators, banks, non-bank financial institutions, and online and offline merchants to each other and to more than 410 million mobile money wallets in over 35 African countries. We enable domestic and cross-border disbursements and collections across our network of networks and work closely with all our partners across the globe to make borders matter less. Watch our video manifesto here.