Airtel Africa PLC (LON:AAF), the telecoms business owned by Indian giant Bharti Airtel, has entered a global partnership with Travelex owner Finablr PLC (LON:FIN).
Finablr's technology will allow Airtel Africa customers to receive payments from over 100 countries without requiring third parties to complete the transaction.
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Meanwhile, the payment platform will be able to tap into the African market, where inbound payments in Sub-Saharan Africa grew 10% to US$46bn in 2018, with access to Airtel Africa 100-million strong subscriber base.
The African mobile network, where investors have had a disappointing time since June's flotation at 80p, operates in 14 countries across the continent.
The service will be launched in one market at a time and will be advertised to African communities worldwide, with the first country to go live by year-end.
“We are excited that Airtel Money will collaborate with Finablr to introduce global payments services, enabling customers to make cross-border remittances, pay bills, make purchases and withdraw cash from our outlets and agents across the continent,” said Airtel Africa’s chief executive Raghunath Mandava.
“This is another important example of how mobile technology will play a key role in changing the way people connect with their homes in Africa.”
Airtel shares were up 2% to 58.5p in early trading on Tuesday.