MTN MoMo and Onafriq announced on Friday a strategic partnership to enable international remittances directly to South Sudan, expanding financial access for the South Sudanese diaspora and their families.
This collaboration leverages MTN’s extensive Mobile Money network and Onafriq’s pan-African payment infrastructure to facilitate seamless cross-border transfers.
Expanding mobile money remittances to South Sudan
MTN MoMo has steadily grown its remittance corridors across Africa, now connecting over 200 million wallets in 24 countries. This latest partnership with Onafriq explicitly targets South Sudan, a market with a growing demand for affordable and secure remittance channels.
MTN’s international transfer service allows customers to send and receive money across borders, with funds credited directly to MoMo wallets in local currency, simplifying access for recipients.
Onafriq, known for its vast payment network spanning 40 African markets and over 500 million mobile wallets, brings its expertise in cross-border digital payments to this initiative.
The partnership will enable South Sudanese users to receive money from the diaspora with reduced fees and faster settlement times, addressing the high costs and delays traditionally associated with remittances in Africa.
Here’s how the partnership works and benefits users
The service allows MoMo customers to receive inbound international transfers directly into their wallets, with notifications sent to both sender and receiver upon transaction completion.
To comply with regulatory requirements, Tier 2 and 3 MoMo wallet customers who have completed KYC verification can access the service. A nominal fee applies to inbound transfers above a certain threshold, aligning with Central Bank of Nigeria regulations.
Onafriq’s founder, Dare Okoudjou, emphasised the shared vision behind the collaboration: “Financial inclusion is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic priority for economic development in Africa.” By integrating Mastercard’s technology and Onafriq’s payment network, the partnership aims to make borders matter less and empower users with efficient, secure mobile payment options.
MTN’s General Manager for fintech products highlighted the importance of expanding corridors for migrant communities. The new corridors include key African countries and now extend to South Sudan, enabling families to stay connected financially despite geographic distances.
This partnership also benefits from Onafriq’s recent collaboration with Circle to leverage blockchain-based stablecoins for cross-border settlements, promising even greater efficiency and lower costs shortly.
This new remittance corridor between MTN MoMo and Onafriq marks a major step in improving financial services access for South Sudanese communities, combining large-scale mobile money infrastructure with innovative fintech solutions to transform cross-border payments.