Zimbabwe education-focused loan and people development company Educate has partnered with UK-based FinTech company, SympliFi, to enable Zimbabweans based in the United Kingdom to invest in the education of their loved ones back home.

Educate has partnered with 53 academic institutions in Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe,and offers finance to enable students to attend these institutions. The company has now established an alliance with UK-based FinTech firm SympliFi to enable Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom to serve as guarantors for education loans.

SympliFi said its digital service (at no charge to guarantors) enables the diaspora to complete the guarantor process "in a matter of minutes on their phone or computer."

The service is initially set to benefit Zimbabwean's with children attending any of Educate's education institution partners beginning in August.

"We are always looking for more ways to improve people's lives and our partnership with SympliFi will help advance our mission of improving access to quality education for Zimbabweans," stated Terrence Mugova, co-founder and managing director of Educate. "We are so excited that we no longer have to turn away potential customers and can now help a larger part of the population, without any barriers or borders."

Maurice Iwunze, co-founder of SympliFi, said: "We are excited about entering the Zimbabwean market with Educate and to support their important mission of increasing access to education. We believe the diaspora are eager to find new and innovative ways to support the economic empowerment of their loved ones back home, and the country in general. We believe education is an integral part of that support."

According to research from the IMF, World Bank and GSMA, mobile money growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase substantially in five years.

The World Bank states that Nigeria is the largest remittance-recipient country in SSA and the sixth largest among low and middle income countries. It has reportedly received more than US$24.3-billion officially in 2018, an increase of over US$2-billion compared to 2017.

Nearly 9 in 10 registered mobile money accounts are in East and West Africa, according to GSMA. West Africa, which leads mobile subscriber penetration, is home to most of the countries with the highest remittances as a share of their GDP: The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Liberia, Senegal, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Remittances to SSA is expected to continue to increase, albeit at a lower rate, to US$51-billion by 2020 after reaching an estimated US$48-billion in 2019, from US$46-billion in 2018.