LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY
“ For those that have limited access to formal banking services , mobile money is a critical technology ”
– Sudhesh Giriyan , Chief Operating Officer , Xpress Money
in some of these countries : it ’ s between 10 % and 15 %, which means that there is still a long , long way to build in financial inclusion . In the interim , until the time that happens , until banking penetration improves drastically , there is a major role that mobile wallet providers can play in terms of bringing international remittances into those markets .
With Huawei catering for around a fifth of the 500mn strong mobile wallet market , Giriyan is confident about the benefits of the deal .
“ Through this partnership , we expect to reach out to a good percentage of these customers and be able to facilitate remittances , especially from North America and Europe , which have two of the largest markets from Africa in one perspective – the remittances will be sourced from North America as well as from the UK and Europe , and will go onto the mobile wallets of partners and of Huawei .”
That ’ s what Giriyan describes as ‘ the game plan ’, and Xpress Money expects to see growth in the African market , a region which is already a fairly strong one for the company , off the back of this partnership , as the COO explains .
“ Africa has been one of the biggest recipients of remittances thanks to a large African diaspora that lives in markets like the US , UK , Europe , Canada , across some of the Middle East markets , even in Australia ,” says Giriyan .
“ As we have seen , the behaviour in the African segment is such that they regularly remit money back home to support their families . Look at Liberia and Egypt , which are among the top receiving countries in the world today . Look at Morocco , look at Algeria , look at Tunisia , look at Ghana , look at Kenya – all these countries depend on remittances .
12 February 2018