Zimbabwe: The largest telecommunications and technology company ‘Econet Wireless’ has become Africa’s first one to open two free remittance corridors into the country and has completely eliminated the cost for both the sender and receiver.
Reportedly, the telecommunication company ‘Econet Wireless’ has partnered with its sister company ‘Sasai Money Transfer’, and has enabled the individuals and companies in the United Kingdom and South Africa with the purpose of sending money into Zimbabwe free of charge, starting May 02, 2024.
According to the sources, the receivers can also withdraw cash from their EcoCash wallet for free. International remittances currently attract a charge of up to 15% for the sender, whereas the receiver is charged 3% when cashing out or withdrawing the money.
CEO of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe – Dr. Douglas Mboweni has explained that the latest decision made by the officials aims to help Zimbabweans to face the acute challenges caused by the drought.
The nation has recently declared that a national disaster caused by the drought has affected the climate event known as El Nino and has left more than 2.7 million people in need of food aid.
Dr. Mboweni further stated that they hope Zimbabweans in the Diaspora will use the savings to send more money home to their families. As the majority of remittances to Zimbabwe are conducted through the two main corridors considering UK and South Africa.
“We don’t have to pay any third parties on those corridors as we rely on a sister company in the group, that agreed to help out,” confirmed CEO Mboweni.
He further made a statement that as a CEO he hopes that the move made by Econet will encourage other companies facilitating remittances into Zimbabwe to reduce their fees.
Moreover, they noted that there was a time that remittances into Africa in general had brought down to get assisted with the continent’s economic development agenda.
Dr. Douglas Mboweni further said that the initiative was in support of government efforts to increase the diaspora remittances coming into the country through formal channels.
Notably, the Econet’s extensive EcoCash agent network ensured that the people in remote rural areas have an access to the low-cost financial services, which ahs reduced the ned for recipients to travel long distances to collect the cash.
Following this Econet declared that Remittance transfers will be facilitated through the EcoCash US dollar wallet, which is accessible by dialling *153# on an EcoCash registered Econet line.
The Senders ain the UK and South Africa can access Sasai Money Transfer by downloading the Sasai Money Transfer App on the Google Play Store and on the App Store.