Pan-African Fintech company MFS Africa has announced that it now reaches over 320 million mobile money wallets on the continent.

In a statement released to the media, the company said based on the 2021 State of the Industry report on Mobile Money released by the GSMA, it effectively covers 60% of all mobile money wallets in sub-Saharan Africa.

The MFS Africa partnership with Xoom was also mentioned as a key highlight for the industry in this year’s report.

In early December 2020 MFS Africa announced a partnership with Xoom.

At the time, Dare Okoudjou, CEO and founder of MFS Africa, said: “Xoom - and their parent company PayPal - are pioneers in digital-first payments, and we are excited to partner with Xoom to further connect our network to the wider world. Diaspora remittances have always been critical for the livelihood of hundreds of millions of Africans and leveraging digital channels to deliver those remittances has always been an important part of our mission. But in a time of global crisis, when brick-and-mortar money transfer stores are not open, connecting digital payments players in the diaspora to the largest network of mobile wallets in Africa doesn’t just make good business sense – it’s the right thing to do from a public health and human welfare perspective, too.”

Since the launch of the services in December, Xoom has added Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique.

Okoudjou added: “In 2010, MFS Africa took a bet that mobile money accounts would be the most dominant form of financial accounts in Africa and emerging markets at large. The new numbers released by the GSMA have now removed any lingering doubts about that. We also wagered that through our work, these accounts would be able to exchange value with each other and with the rest of the world, in the same way we communicate with each other by mobile phones. We are now in a position to make that a reality for over 320 million accounts in Africa. This means that a tech company in Liberia can now gun for a market 64x the size of its home market – underlining the positive economic impact that creating new financial pathways can create.”

According to the Fintech firm Sub-Saharan Africa is the most developed market for mobile money, accounting for roughly two-thirds of global mobile money transactions in 2020.

“However, more complex transactions, such as those across borders or involving distinct financial institutions, can be costly and inconvenient for African consumers and businesses. The high cost of remittances on the continent (8.9% in the last quarter of 2019) is just one example,” it said.