MFS Africa has partnered with Paga to make it easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to send money back home by allowing anyone with a Paga wallet to receive funds from mobile money platforms and money transfers from across Africa and around the world.
The deal will see Paga link millions of mobile wallet users and bank account holders for seamless transactions across networks and across borders. The deal aims to help Nigerians take advantage of the over $3 billion USD a year coming in just from the Nigerian communities in Benin, Niger and Cameroon – countries that are right next door to Nigeria.
According to Jay Alabraba, co-founder and Director of Business Development of Paga,“By joining the MFS Hub, we make it easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to send money back home and we also enable them to pay directly for utility bills, goods and services in Nigeria. We look forward to growing our relationship with MFS Africa in the years to come. This is an important partnership for enabling seamless digital payment for Nigerians at home and abroad.”
Unlike most African markets, mobile network operators are not permitted to offer financial services in Nigeria, but Paga, with over 6.4 million users and a network of nearly 12,000 agents across Nigeria aims to help as many people as possible connect to the world whether they be agents, merchants or users.The Paga wallet is available to any Nigerian with a phone through Paga’s *242# USSD code, and it is integrated into the country’s financial services infrastructure so that users can instantly send to or receive money from other phone numbers or bank accounts.
“For the last few years, everyone has been looking to the Nigerian market, wondering when and how mobile money would take off,” said Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa. “There’s an obvious opportunity here and Paga’s commitment to the market and innovative approach to execution will guarantee we make the most of it. They’ve built an impressive agent network, merchant ecosystem, and user base. We’re excited to finally welcome Nigeria onto the MFS Hub with Paga, and to connect more and more of our mobile network and money transfer operator partners to Paga’s users.”
