In order to power new payment lanes between 27 African nations and Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Ripple has teamed with Onafriq, an African mobile payments service. Together with three partner companies—Zazi Transfer for Australia, PayAngel for the UK, and Pyypl for GCC members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—Onafriq will make use of Ripple Payments’ blockchain technology.
A substantial amount of cross-border transfers to Africa are made up of remittances. Senior vice president of worldwide customer success at Ripple, Aaron Sears, observed that Sub-Saharan Africa has shown robust cryptocurrency acceptance, with people using digital assets for daily needs in places like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. In terms of its on-demand liquidity (ODL) solution, Pyypl is already a Ripple partner, and Onafriq is rumoured to have integrated ODL as well.
Following the acquisition of US mobile payment software provider Global Technology Partners in June 2022, Onafriq, formerly known as MFS Africa, changed its name. Earlier this year, the business also reached an agreement with Western Union for cross-border transactions. November 8 during Ripple’s Swell customer event in Dubai saw the announcement of the most recent update from Ripple Payments, formerly known as RippleNet.
