Ripple, the cryptocurrency-based money transfer and payments network established in 2012, is collaborating with payments fintech company Onafriq to extend its remittance capabilities throughout Africa and to forge connections with several Gulf nations, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
This partnership will give rise to three novel blockchain-based payment corridors, facilitating transactions between Onafriq users in Africa and customers of PayAngel in the UK, Pyypl in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Zazi Transfer in Australia. The announcement was made during Ripple’s annual conference, Swell, in Dubai.
Monica Long, President at Ripple, expressed enthusiasm for this partnership, noting that Onafriq is a significant payment player in Africa, serving an impressive 400 million mobile wallets. Furthermore, Long highlighted how this collaboration will contribute to Ripple’s expanding reach, enabling it to cover 90% of foreign exchange (FX) markets.
Ripple has emerged as a symbol of resilience in the cryptocurrency industry, having stood up to and achieved partial success against the perceived heavy-handed actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Notably, the price of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple’s XRP blockchain, experienced a surge recently. This surge was propelled by the token’s approval by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and Ripple’s involvement in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) project in partnership with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
In addition to these developments, Ripple unveiled several enhancements to its products and updates regarding licenses. These updates are geared towards enhancing payments between enterprises and smaller businesses. Ripple has been steadily expanding its portfolio of licenses, which includes money transmitter licenses in the United States and an institutional payments license in Singapore. Recent filings have also been made in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
