HARARE – Econet Wireless has partnered global money transfer service WorldRemit to provide a diaspora remittance service on the Ecocash platform, the firms announced on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe receives about $2 billion annually in diaspora remittances, according to the central bank.
Econet Services chief executive Darlington Mandivenga said the EcoCash partnership with the United Kingdom-based WorldRemit which operates in 35 countries worldwide, would improve efficiencies in money transfer.
“The launch of this partnership could not have come at a better time, when the government of Zimbabwe has been actively raising awareness of the importance of the Zimbabwean diaspora in furthering the economic development and stability of the nation,” Mandivenga said.
The service would attract a fee of around five percent to be paid by the sender.
WorldRemit director for North America, Rob Ayers, said online remittances accounted for five percent of the $540 billion of global remittances last year and would soon grow to constitute a third of total remittances.
He said the new service sought to cover the gaps in the market that traditional money transfer agents and banks were failing to fill.
Ayers said WorldRemit, which is currently offering services in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia where many Zimbabweans live, would soon extend its services to the United States with licencing procedures currently underway.
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The company is also present in Uganda where one third of money remittances are sent through mobile phone and in Ghana (50 percent), Kenya (92 percent) and Somaliland (100 percent).
Launched in 2011, EcoCash has reached 4,2 million users and processed transactions worth over $4 billion
– The Source
