Nigeria's financial giant, Access Holdings, has partnered with
Coronation Group, Safaricom, and M-PESA Africa to create a partnership that
brings together Access Holdings' Pan-African banking network across 14
countries, Coronation's financial service offerings across West Africa, and
Africa's largest fintech providing mobile money and digital financial services
for more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses across 8 countries.
The partnership will initially focus on pivotal markets, including
Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Tanzania. The goal of this collaboration is to
connect more than 60 million customers and 5 million businesses across 8
countries and process more than $1 billion a day in transaction value.
Nigeria and Kenya are the largest and third-largest recipients of
diaspora remittances in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the World
Bank’s Migration and Development Brief report. In 2023, remittances to Nigeria
accounted for 38% of the total $58 billion remittance flows to the region,
growing by 2%, while Ghana and Kenya posted estimated gains of 5.6% and 3.8%,
respectively.
Access Bank, the largest consumer bank in Africa with over 60 million
customers in 21 countries, aims to significantly boost its remittance business
by tackling the challenges customers face in making remittances within and
outside the continent. The partnership is subject to approval from the Kenyan
financial authorities.
The collaboration will see Access Holdings provide technology-infused
financial services, while Coronation Group will bring its technology expertise
to the deal. M-Pesa, the mobile money platform of Safaricom, which currently
dominates the mobile money market in Kenya with a 96.5% share of the market,
will play a key role in the partnership. Another report has shown that 32% of
remittances in Kenya are through mobile money operators.
The managing director of M-Pesa Africa, Sitoyo Lopokoyit, said, "African countries trade more with
nations outside the continent than within themselves. Initiatives such as the
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) seek to address the lack of
intra-continental trade. This partnership with Safaricom, Coronation Group and
Access Holdings seeks to explore remittance corridors between East and West
Africa, bringing alive the AfCFTA spirit."
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
