Vodacom has announced plans to expand its mobile money platform’s International Money Transfer (IMT) service to enable subscribers to send and receive money to and from members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
Vodacom, owned by Safaricom’s parent company Vodafone will now operate Vodacom M-Pesa in South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The M-Pesa service is already available in 200 countries globally, allowing Tanzanians to carry out transactions across borders efficiently,” Stargomena Tax, Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation, said.
“The entrant of mobile money in international remittance has improved ease of access and reduced the cost of transfers, bringing us closer to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 10 .”
Stargomena further said that the new development is a testament to the enabling environment created by friendly policies in Tanzania, allowing global financial connectivity.
Vodacom M-Pesa IMT started the journey in 2014 by enabling money transfers to Kenya. In 2021, the company expanded the app’s ability, enabling Tanzanian customers to send money from M-Pesa to all bank accounts in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.