Ripple’s blockchain solution will be used for fast and cheap cross-border payments between 27 countries in Africa, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with FinTech company Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa) that will facilitate cross-border payments using digital assets between Africa and several new markets.
According to Monica Long, President of Ripple, the partnership with Onafriq, the largest payment provider in Africa, will allow Ripple to expand its presence in the region, thus covering around 90% of the currency markets. It’s worth noting that Onafriq serves around 500 million registered users located in 40 countries in Africa.
The initiative will involve 27 pan-African countries that are part of the Onafriq network, namely:
- Benin;
- Botswana;
- Burkina Faso;
- Burundi;
- Central African Republic;
- Egypt;
- Equatorial Guinea;
- Eswatini;
- Ethiopia;
- Gambia;
- Ghana;
- Ivory Coast;
- Liberia;
- Madagascar;
- Malawi;
- Mali;
- Morocco;
- Mozambique;
- Niger;
- Nigeria;
- Senegal;
- South Africa;
- Tanzania;
- Togo;
- Uganda;
- Zambia;
- Zimbabwe.
As part of the partnership, there will be cross-border transfers between Onafriq’s customers in Africa and Ripple’s partners in:
- the United Kingdom, via PayAngel;
- Australia, via Zazi Transfer;
- the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain, via Pyypl.
Aaron Sears, SVP of Global Sales and Customer at Ripple, said that through the tech partnership, Onafriq will be able to address several challenges within cross-border payments in the region regarding transfer speed, reliability, and cost. The partnership will provide faster, more efficient, and cost-effective international remittances to Africa, which in turn will greatly enhance financial inclusion across the continent.
According to Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of Onafriq, the initiative will enable African businesses to access fast and cost-effective international remittances, which can boost their growth and expand their presence on the global stage.
Ripple, in the run-up to the Swell Global 2023 annual conference in Dubai, has announced the rebranding of its RippleNet payment solution. A post on the company’s blog said the solution has evolved into Ripple Payments. Key updates to the network include:
- Expanded access to the global network. Ripple Payments supports over 70 crypto and traditional payout markets.
- Regulatory compliance. Ripple Payments has more than 30 licenses in various regulatory regions, including MAS Major Payments Institution in Singapore and Money Transfer License (MTL) in the U.S.
- Lightning-fast onboarding and go-to-market capabilities. Integration with XRP Ledger’s native decentralized exchange (XRPL DEX) will improve product performance and lower barriers to enter new markets.
- Providing liquidity on demand on a 24/7 basis. Ripple Payments delivers an optimized experience regardless of currency or final destination.
Ripple recently became a technical partner of the National Bank of Georgia as part of the development of the digital lari (CBDC).
