Africa
EBI SA, the international subsidiary of the pan-African banking group Ecobank, is launching Rapidtransfer International, a digital payment service for the African diaspora between Europe and the 33 African countries where Ecobank operates.
In 2018, financial flows from the diaspora to sub-Saharan Africa were $ 46 billion according to World Bank data. That same year, $ 5.596 billion was transferred from the UK to Africa and $ 1.356 billion from France to the African continent. While the UK and France are the two main target countries, Rapidtransfer International is also available in other important markets such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.
It is estimated that between 165,000 and 280,000 members of the African diaspora with incomes above 80,000 euros living in the United Kingdom and France, the two main centers of the African diaspora in Europe. With 25% of the Euro-African diaspora residing there, France is also one of the main destinations for young Africans, attracting more than 100,000 students from the continent each year to its universities. Taking into account the emergence of a middle class and the large student population, France is a key market for the Rapidtransfer International offer.
