Analysis from online money transfer service WorldRemit has found that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to reach $33 billion in 2015, with growth in the region expected to be at 0.9%.

This week the company released data on the state of global remittances. According to the research, with macro-level data sourced from WorldBank, stagnation in remittances to Nigeria was offset by strong growth in Kenya (10.7%), South Africa (7.1%), and Uganda (6.8%). Nigeria, which received $21 billion in 2014, accounts for two-thirds of remittances to the region.

One of the key findings was that fees remain too high. "The average cost of sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa remains at 12% (far off the G20's target of 5%); largely due to the cost of bricks-and-mortar agent networks of traditional firms. There is a huge potential for mobile technology to reduce costs on both the send and receive sides," the report states.

Based on these findings, as well as a recent report by the GSMA ((2014 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Financial Services), WorldRemit believes mobile money will play an increasingly significant role in remittances and also help to reduce fees.

"Worldwide mobile money usage is exploding... 261 mobile money services are now live across 89 countries with 103 million active users as of December 2014. More than half of these services currently in operation are in Sub-Saharan Africa," the company states.

Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit, said, "Mobile money will play a pivotal role in global remittances, helping to reduce fees, improve speed and convenience for users. Most importantly, mobile money is a key enabler of financial inclusion. There are currently two and a half billion unbanked people in the world i.e. without a bank account. One billion of these people already have access to a mobile phone and so a potential means of accessing financial services,

"Make no mistake – for many people in the world, mobile money will be their main or only means of accessing financial services."

Many countries in Africa are looking to up their levels of investment in mobile money services to capitalise on growing consumer interest.

A recent report by the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has revealed that the total number of mobile money transfer subscriptions grew by 7.3% to reach 5.3 million during Q3 to end December 2014. The country is said to have 5.3million mobile money subscribers.

This week leading Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom announced that it is in the final stages of preparation to migrate its mobile money service, M-Pesa, to an enhanced platform.