Global remittance company HomeSend has expanded its framework agreement for mobile money transfers and remittances with M-Pesa to four new African countries - DRC, Ghana, Lesotho and Mozambique.

The HomeSend M-Pesa deal, undertaken through Vodafone Group, will see remittances facilitated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Lesotho and Mozambique.

A statement by the two companies, released at the Mobile World Congress, confirmed "The two companies will work together to enable the real-time, mobile receipt of remittances by M-Pesa users in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Albania."

The mobile remittances will also be enabled through MasterCard, enhancing convenience and speedy remittances via mobile money platforms.

M-Pesa is a dominant mobile money platform in Africa. Originally from Kenya, the platform has now expanded into several other countries on the continent.

Claire Alexandre, Commercial and Strategy Head at M-Pesa, said the rapidly expanding platform was making "money mobile" and now increasingly making it mobile "across borders too", hence implementation of the arrangement with HomeSend.

"HomeSend connects them to an extensive global network, offering an affordable, secure and convenient solution for inbound digital money," Alexandre said.

Previous research reports show that digitalisation of payments and remittances is increasingly taking root in Africa. Yesterday, Zimbabwe's Econet Wireless said it was targeting the country's $2 billion informal market with its EcoCash TA! contactless mobile money payment platform.

Mobile money remittance service models are increasingly being adapted to local market requirements and consumer demand, fuelling interest in cross border mobile remittances.

These are being implemented by the likes of Western Union, MasterCard and MoneyGram, among others.