The World Bank has revealed that amongst G20 economies, South Africa remains most expensive in repatriating money from.
However, at a time Nigeria and South Africa represent $700 billion; translating to about one-third of the $2.1 trillion in gross domestic product across all 55 African countries, leading money transfer service firm, WorldRemit has launched low-cost online money transfers from South Africa to Nigeria, uniting Africa’s two largest economies.
The company said with the launch, Nigerians in South Africa can now send money directly from their phones to all major Nigerian banks using the WorldRemit app or website.
In a statement issued Thursday, WorldRemit said “Users can send to all major Nigerian banks including Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, and more with just a few taps on their phones”.
“The new digital service will reduce the cost of sending money across borders. The prohibitive charges that individuals and businesses pay to transfer money within Africa are recognised as a major obstacle to the growing regional integration promoted by the continent-wide free-trade agreement signed in March 2018.
While noting that “WorldRemit is now one of the only digital money transfer services sending money from South Africa,” the group noted that “By opening up this service, WorldRemit will introduce some of the cheapest fees available on the market to send money to Nigeria – often under half of the average cost”.
